HANOI (23 Sept 2015) – Vietnam and Thailand have joined Australia and Malaysia for the 2016 AFC U-16 Championship which will be held in India next year.
Following the count back, Vietnam have emerged as the first best runners-up among all qualifying groups while Thailand were the second best.
The other two best runners up in order were United Arab Emirates and Nepal.
Australia and Malaysia had gained automatic qualifications by virtue of being Group J and Group G winners respectively.
In total, 16 teams will compete for honours and they include host nation India, the eleven qualifying group winners and the four teams who finished as the best second placed sides during qualification.
AFC U-16 Championship India 2016 – The Finalists
Uzbekistan – Group A winners
Oman – Group B winners
Iraq – Group C winners
Saudi Arabia – Group D winners
Iran – Group E winners
Kuwait – Group F winners
Malaysia – Group G winners
DPR Korea – Group H winners
Korea Republic – Group I winners
Australia – Group J winners
Japan – Group K winners
Vietnam – 1st best runner-up among all groups
Thailand – 2nd best runner-up among all groups
United Arab Emirates – 3rd best runner-up among all groups
Nepal – 4th best runner-up among all groups
India – hosts
The competition, which will see DPR Korea defending the title they won in 2014, will begin on 15 September 2016 with the final set to be played on 2 October 2016.
