Qualifying games for the Asian Cup-2023 among youth under 20 will begin today in Dushanbe.

Tajikistan must show success at home, Lebanon hopes for Allah, Singapore expects difficult matches, and Cambodia remains a dark horse. This is a summary of what the coaches said ahead of the start of the Asian Youth Football Championship qualifiers.

Today in Dushanbe starts the qualifying round of the Asian Cup-2023 among youth teams under 20 in group “I”, in which Tajikistan, Lebanon, Singapore and Cambodia will play.


A pre-tournament press conference was held at the “Rumi” Hotel in Dushanbe on September 13.

The head coach of the Tajik national team, Akhliddin Turdiev, said that the group gathered rivals of equal class, but our team has two advantages.

«We have collected the optimal line-up, compared to the recent CAFA tournament, where the main players of the national team were absent. Only in the first match there will be no midfielder Khusrav Toirov, who plays for the Kazakh club “Atyrau”. He will arrive at the team's location in the second round», - said the coach.


Turdiev called the home field factor another advantage. In his opinion, this should work for success.