The CommBank Australian U23s will learn their group stage opponents for the AFC U23 Asian Cup™ Saudi Arabia 2026, with the draw set to take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Thursday at 5pm AEST.
The ceremony will divide the 16-strong final cast into four groups for the seventh edition of the tournament that is scheduled to commence on January 7, 2026.
Australia qualified after a successful campaign earlier in September which saw them top Group D on goal difference with seven points. They join first-time hosts of the tournament in Saudi Arabia, and 14 other nations.
The Aussies, led by Tony Vidmar, have been placed in Pot 2 and are ranked 7th.
How To Watch
The draw will be live streamed on the AFC's Official YouTube channel on Thursday, 2 October 2025 at 5pm AEST via the AFC's official YouTube channel HERE!
As the hosts, Saudi Arabia are the top seed, while the other 15 teams will be seeded into four pots based on a points system derived from their final rankings across the previous three editions of the Finals. The points from each edition will be weighted progressively as follows:
- Latest edition (2024): 100% of ranking points
- 2nd last edition (2022): 50% of ranking points
- 3rd last edition (2020): 25% of ranking points
The pot allocations, with rankings indicated in brackets, are as follows:
Pot 1: Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan (1), Japan (2), Iraq (3)
Pot 2: Korea Republic (5), Vietnam (6), Australia (7), Qatar (8)
Pot 3: Thailand (9), Jordan (10), United Arab Emirates (11), Islamic Republic of Iran (12)
Pot 4: China PR (13), Syria (14), Kyrgyz Republic (15), Lebanon (16)
The top two finishers of each group will progress to the Knockout Stage, with the Final showdown to be contested on January 25, 2026.
