The Indian Under-16 football team are clubbed alongside Korea Republic, Australia and Uzbekistan in Group C for the upcoming 2020 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-16 Championship in Bahrain.

The group was made at the official draw for the tournament at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur earlier on Thursday.

India had earlier made it to the main event of the AFC U-16 Championship when they made a top-place finish in qualifiers in Group B, which also consist of Uzbekistan (hosts), Bahrain and Turkmenistan.

The Indian colts finished with a total of seven points from three matches after scoring 11 goals and conceding single goal.

This was India’s third consecutive qualification to the AFC U-16 finals and ninth overall, the official statement from the AFC said.

The four teams who make it to the semi-finals of the competition will earn a direct qualification into the FIFA U-17 World Cup Peru 2021.

Reflecting on the upcoming tournament, Indian U-16 national team head coach Bibiano Fernandes said that young players are looking forward to the prestigious event.

“I don’t like to pre-empt any expectations prior to the start of the competition. At this level all the teams are tough to play against. We as a team have improved over the years. I’m sure that the boys – much like myself, are looking forward to it,” the official statement from Fernandes said.

In the last edition of the tournament in 2018 in Kuala Lumpur, the Indian U-16 team fell just one victory away from directly qualifying for the FIFA U-17 World Cup after losing to Korea Republic in the quarter-finals.

The 2020 AFC U-16 Championship will take place from September 16 to October 3.