Saudi Arabia hope to qualify for continental contest and defend title next year in Qatar from April 15 to May 3 RIYADH: Fifty-five teams are set to start the qualifying competition today for the AFC U23 Asian Cup finals, which will be hosted by Qatar from April 15 to May 3, 2024. The qualifiers, from Sept. 4 to 12, 2023, will see the teams divided into 11 groups. The winner of each group, along with the four best second-placed teams, will qualify for the finals. Qatar will automatically qualify for next year’s event as hosts. Teams including Saudi Arabia, the defending champions, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Palestine will seek to secure their spots in the continental event, and qualify for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Some teams in the region are hoping that home-ground advantage will help their qualifying hopes, including Bahrain in Group 4, Jordan in Group 1, Saudi Arabia in Group 10, and Kuwait in Group 6. Seven other countries hosting qualifying matches are China, Indonesia, South Korea, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. In the previous edition of the tournament held in June last year, Saudi Arabia won the title after defeating the host nation, Uzbekistan. Here are the groups for the AFC U23 Asian Cup qualifiers: Group 1: Jordan (host), Syria, Oman, Brunei. Group 2: South Korea (host), Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar. Group 3: Vietnam (host), Singapore, Yemen, Guam. Group 4: Japan, Bahrain (host), Palestine, Pakistan. Group 5: Uzbekistan (host), Iran, Hong Kong, Afghanistan. Group 6: Iraq, Kuwait (host), East Timor, Macau. Group 7: UAE, India, Maldives, China (host). Group 8: Thailand (host), Malaysia, Bangladesh, Philippines. Group 9: Australia, Tajikistan (host), Laos, North Korea. Group 10: Saudi Arabia (host), Cambodia, Lebanon, Mongolia. Group 11: Turkmenistan, Indonesia (host), Chinese Taipei. -ADVERTISEMENT-