In an exclusive interview with the-AFC.com, Al Ammari said Iraq are anxious to get their campaign started as they look to not only win the coveted trophy for a second time but also seal Tokyo 2020 Olympics qualification.

“We qualified in March, so it’s been awhile and I’m really looking forward to this tournament. It’s a big tournament for us as a country, and we want to do well.”

The quartet will go into the campaign on the back of a strong 2019 and, in what is likely to be a closely contested group, their countries' hopes of progressing to the knockout rounds of the AFC U23 Championship Thailand 2020 could rest upon their form in front of goal in Southeast Asia.

Ahead of Wednesday’s opening matches, when Iraq face Australia and Thailand take on Bahrain, join the-AFC.com as we begin our detailed look at the teams vying for Continental glory across four venues in Thailand.

The top two sides in Group A will qualify for the quarter-finals, while the tournament’s top three finishers will earn places at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

The Lions of Mesopotamia have a proud record in the AFC U23 Championship, winning the inaugural edition – when it was the AFC U-22 Championship – in Oman before finishing third in Qatar two years later to book their ticket to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

While they exited at the group stage in Brazil, the West Asians were unbeaten and secured an excellent scoreless draw with the hosts, who eventually won the competition.

Twelve years earlier in Athens, meanwhile, Iraq narrowly missed out on the bronze medal after finishing fourth following a closely fought 1-0 loss to Italy in the third place play-off.

Holders Uzbekistan will be looking to repeat their feat from China two years ago while Japan are aiming to return to the form that saw them lift the AFC U23 Championship trophy in Qatar in 2016.

But, after initially being scheduled to take place in mid-2013, the inaugural edition of one of the newest competition’s in the AFC calendar came in 2014 when – as the then AFC U-22 Championship – Iraq conquered all before them in a tournament that saw a number of Asia’s modern-day stars play key roles.

While each match-up between some of the best young talents in Asia is set to be well worth watching, we have highlighted five ties among the 24 group stage fixtures that are of particular interest.

Three editions of the AFC U23 Championship have come and gone and Australia, one of the heavyweights of the Continental game, are yet to better their quarter-final appearance since the inaugural tournament in Oman.

Indeed, when Olympic qualification was on the line at the 2016 tournament two years later, things got worse: they were unable to progress from the Group Stage.