All eyes will be on Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Thursday for the official draw ceremony of the Qualifiers Round 1, featuring 29 teams looking to impact the tournament after a four-year pandemic-induced break.
The competition kicks off with the teams competing in eight groups in Round 1 from April 22 to 30, 2023. The eight Round 1 group winners will then play the Round 2 Qualifiers in two groups from September 16 to 24, 2023.
The Qualifiers are to be contested in centralized venues across Guam, Jordan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Singapore, Tajikistan, Thailand and Vietnam.
Four teams from Round 2 will advance to the Finals, which is scheduled to be held in Indonesia from April 7 to 20, 2024.
They will be joined by the top three teams from the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship Thailand 2019 as well as host Indonesia, who will participate in the Qualifiers but will remain unranked during the draw.
Defending champion and four-time winner Japan, runner-up and three-time champions DPR Korea, and third-placed China PR are the teams from 2019 to qualify directly for the Finals.