Asia’s best futsal sides will learn their route to glory for the AFC Futsal Asian Cup™ Thailand 2024 at the official Final Draw ceremony on Thursday, December 14 at 3pm at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur.
The 17th edition of the tournament will be held from April 17 to 28, 2024 and is set to feature 16 teams including Thailand, who automatically qualified as hosts and are staging it for a third time. The rest of the cast was determined after a qualifying campaign in October that featured 30 teams.
Japan are the reigning champions, having won their fourth crown after defeating record 12-time winners Islamic Republic of Iran in 2022; both teams, along with Uzbekistan and Thailand, are the only four sides to qualify for every edition to date.
At the other end of the spectrum, Afghanistan succeeded in their fifth qualification attempt and will become the 36th different side to appear at the AFC Futsal Asian Cup™ when they make their Continental debut on the court next year.
As the Host Association, Thailand will be seeded first for the draw, with the remaining teams ranked by their performances at the previous edition in 2022. The 16 teams will be divided equally into four groups to contest a one-round league format, with the top two finishers in each group qualifying to the Quarter-finals. The seedings are as follow:
Pot 1 (Ranked 1st to 4th): Thailand, Japan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Uzbekistan
Pot 2 (5th to 8th): Tajikistan, Kuwait, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia
Pot 3 (9th to 12th): Iraq, Bahrain, Korea Republic, Myanmar
Pot 4 (13th to 16th): Afghanistan, Kyrgyz Republic, Australia, China PR
The top four finishers at the AFC Futsal Asian Cup™ Thailand 2024 will qualify for the FIFA Futsal World Cup Uzbekistan 2024, which will take place between September 14 and October 6, 2024, marking the first time the global showpiece will be held in Central Asia.
As Uzbekistan have automatically qualified as hosts, the fifth-placed team will be determined via Play-off matches if the Uzbeks progress to the Semi-finals of the AFC Futsal Asian Cup™ Thailand 2024.
