Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
The global football spotlight will continue to shine on Asia in 2017 with the 67th FIFA Congress taking place in Bahrain in May. Korea Republic and India will host the FIFA U-20 World Cup in May and the FIFA U-17 World Cup in October respectively.
Asia will have five representatives in each tournament– India (hosts), Iraq, Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan and DPR Korea in the FIFA U-17 World Cup and Korea Republic (hosts), Saudi Arabia, Japan, IR Iran and Vietnam will be in the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
These events are in addition to the FIFA Club World Cup which will be returning to Abu Dhabi in December 2017. The world has already seen the impact of Asian teams in this tournament with the exceptional display by Kashima Antlers in not only reaching the final in 2016 but also pushing the mighty Real Madrid extremely close before losing in extra time.
There will be the AFC Women’s U-16 Championship in Thailand and the AFC Women’s U-19 Tournament in China PR this year as well as the usual, end of year club finals of the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup being played in November.
Other dates to note in the coming year are the AFC Women’s Football Day on March 8, coinciding with the International Women’s Day, the AFC Futsal U-20 Championship in IR Iran, AFC Beach Soccer Championships in Malaysia in March and the AFC Grassroots Day on May 15.
The year will also see a whole host of high-profile AFC events under the banner of One Asia, One Goal and they will bring together experts from our Member Associations, the AFC and further afield, to build a successful future for football in Asia.