Uzbekistan will host the 2027 AFC U-17 Asian Cup, the Uzbekistan Football Association announced following a meeting of the Asian Football Confederation’s Executive Committee. The tournament is scheduled to take place from May 12 to May 29.
According to the AFC, the hosting rights were awarded to the Uzbekistan Football Association as part of a routine restructuring of the youth competition calendar and host country allocations across the continent.
Saudi Arabia was originally slated to host the 2027 edition. In May 2025, the AFC Competitions Committee selected the Kingdom to host three consecutive tournaments in 2026, 2027, and 2028. The first of these events was held in Jeddah in May 2026. The official announcement did not specify why the hosting rights for the upcoming 2027 tournament were reassigned to Uzbekistan.
The AFC confirmed that Saudi Arabia will now host the U-17 Asian Cup in 2029 instead.
Additionally, the AFC Executive Committee designated Japan as the host country for the 2028 AFC U-23 Asian Cup. This tournament will double as the Asian qualification route for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar, and Uzbekistan had also launched bids to host the U-23 tournament, while the UAE withdrew its application earlier in 2026.
The AFC noted that while all final candidates met the minimum requirements, Japan was ultimately chosen due to its state-of-the-art infrastructure, low operational risks, geographic diversity, and the principle of rotating major football tournaments across Asia.
Uzbekistan enters this upcoming hosting cycle with a strong pedigree in youth football. In 2025, the national under-17 team was crowned Asian champions after defeating Saudi Arabia in the final. They secured the historic victory despite being reduced to nine men following two first-half red cards, capturing their first U-17 title since 2012. In the 2026 tournament, the team fell just short of defending their title, losing to Japan in the semifinals via a penalty shootout.
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