DUSHANBE, November 13, Asia-Plus  -- Tajik young soccer players have qualified for next year’s Asian Federation Confederation (AFC) U-19 Championship along with defending champions DPR Korea, China, Korea Republic, Australia, Uzbekistan, Yemen and Syria. 

In Qatar, Tajikistan topped Group C with 10 points.  They outclassed Qatar and Turkmenistan with a similar 4-0 scoreline, sidelined Bhutan 8-0 and drew with Syria 1-1, Tajikistan’s Football Federation said. 

Syria qualified as second team from this group with seven points and one match against Bhutan to play.

According to official website of AFC, Uzbekistan topped Group D winning all their three matches in Tashkent. They beat Yemen (1-0), Jordan (3-1) and Nepal (1-0) while Yemen finished second with four points after a victory over Nepal (3-0) and a goalless draw with Jordan.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of football in Asia.  It was founded in 1954 in Manila, Philippines. The main headquarters is located in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  The current president is Mohammed Bin Hammam of Qatar.  The AFC runs the Asian Cup, a competition for the national football teams of Asia held every four years, as well as the Asian World Cup Qualifying Tournament and the AFC Challenge Cup.  The AFC also runs three levels of annual international club competitions such as AFC Champions League, AFC Cup and AFC President''s Cup.