Vietnam's U17 women's team is the host and is in an easy group for the Asian qualifying round.

The draw results for the 2027 AFC U17 Women's Asian Cup qualifiers bring encouraging news for Vietnam, being both host nation and paired with manageable rivals.

The 2027 U17 Asian Cup qualifiers see the highest number of participating teams in history, aiming for the 2027 finals.

A total of 30 teams, two more than the previous record of 28 in the 2019 qualifiers, took part in the draw ceremony this afternoon of July 16 at AFC Headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The draw divides the teams into eight groups: six groups of four and two groups of three, competing in a single round-robin format held from October 5 to 11.

The group winners will qualify for the 2027 AFC U17 Women's Asian Cup Finals in China, which will be hosted by China for the second consecutive time and the fifth time in history.

The eight qualifiers will join four teams that have already secured direct spots based on their performance in the 2026 tournament: defending champion DPR Korea, runner-up Japan, and two semifinalists, Australia and host China.

This is the ninth time qualifiers have been held since their introduction for the 2009 edition. Bhutan will participate in the qualifiers for the first time.

Additionally, 11 teams aim to make their debut in the finals: Cambodia, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Macau, Malaysia, Northern Mariana Islands, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tajikistan, and the UAE.

The teams are divided into four seeded pots and one pot for host nations, based on a points system from the last three editions. Specifically, Pot 1: South Korea (rank 1), Philippines (4), India (5), Chinese Taipei (6), Indonesia (7).

Pot 2: Lebanon (9), Iran (10), Hong Kong (12), Bangladesh (13), Kyrgyzstan (14), Jordan (16).

Pot 3: Northern Mariana Islands (18), Saudi Arabia (19), Guam (20), Syria (22), Macau (24).

Pot 4: Palestine (25), UAE (26), Bahrain (27), Bhutan (28), Cambodia (28), Iraq (28).

Host nation pot: Thailand (2; Pot 1), Vietnam (3; Pot 1), Myanmar (8; Pot 1), Singapore (11; Pot 2), Malaysia (15; Pot 2), Uzbekistan (17; Pot 3), Laos (21; Pot 3), Tajikistan (23; Pot 3).

According to the draw, Vietnam's U17 women's team is placed in Group D with Kyrgyzstan, Northern Mariana Islands, and Palestine.

After the qualifiers conclude, the draw for the finals will be held in December to determine the group composition for the 12 teams at the U17 Asian Cup in China, scheduled from March 31 to April 17, 2027.

The four best-performing teams at the tournament will represent Asia at the 2027 FIFA U17 World Cup in Morocco.