Kathmandu: Nepal has been drawn along with defending champions North Korea in the same group of the AFC U-20 Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers during a draw held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Monday.

Bhutan, Mongolia, and Saudi Arabia are other teams of group A to be played in Bhutan.

A total of 33 nations will participate in the qualifiers, which will take place from August 2 to 10. The participating teams have been divided into eight groups. Seven groups have four teams each, while group ‘A’ is studded with five teams.

The winner from each group, along with the three best runner-up teams, will qualify for the finals to be held in Thailand from April 1 to 18, 2026.

Draw Results

Group A: North Korea, Nepal, Bhutan (H), Mongolia, Saudi Arabia

Group B: Vietnam (H), Kyrgyz Republic, Hong Kong, China, Singapore,

Group C: Australia, Chinese Taipei, Palestine, Tajikistan (H)

Group D: Myanmar (H), India, Indonesia, Turkmenistan

Group E: China PR (H), Lebanon, Cambodia, Syria

Group F: Japan, IR Iran, Malaysia (H), Guam

Group G: Uzbekistan (H), Jordan, Northern Mariana Islands, Bahrain

Group H: Korea Republic, Bangladesh, Laos (H), Timor Leste