According to the announced results, the 15 teams that qualified include Jordan (Group A), Japan (Group B), Vietnam (Group C), Australia and China (Group D), Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan (Group E), Thailand and Lebanon (Group F), Iraq (Group G), Qatar (Group H), South Korea (Group J), Iran and the UAE (Group I), Syria (Group K). host Saudi Arabia is the 16th team.
Of these, Kyrgyzstan and Lebanon qualified for the first time, while the remaining teams are all familiar faces of the tournament. Notably, all 5 previous champions including Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Uzbekistan are present. Japan is currently the defending champion.
In the final match, many matches were tense. U23 Korea defeated Indonesia 1-0 to take the top spot in Group J, while U23 Thailand beat Malaysia 2-1 to continue with Lebanon representing Group F. U23 Qatar also affirmed their strength when they beat Bahrain 2-1, holding the top spot in Group H with 9 absolute points.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has not yet announced the time for the draw for the group stage or the seed group. With the full gathering of strong teams in the region, the 2026 U23 Asian Cup finals promise to be very dramatic, and at the same time an important preparation for the 2028 Paris Olympics when the three leading teams will win tickets to participate directly.
