The Malaysia U-19 men's national football team have been drawn to face Qatar, Tajikistan and Yemen in Group D of the 2020 AFC U-19 Championship in Uzbekistan this October.

The draw was held in a virtual ceremony at the AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.

Malaysia, Qatar and Tajikistan finished first in their respective groups in the qualifying round last year, while Yemen were among the top five second-placed teams.

National U-19 team manager Kamarul Ariffin Shahar said his coaching staff would prepare the team in order to realise their dream of reaching 2021 U-20 World Cup in Indonesia.

"We will prepare ourselves to the maximum before we fly to Tashkent. The target is to qualify for the 2021 U-20 World Cup.

"It is not impossible for this side to face teams such as Tajikistan and Qatar, as this line-up of players won big over Tajikistan a few years ago and we also won against the United Arab Emirates (UAE)," he said.

Most of the country's U-19 squad, including young sensation Luqman Hakim Shamsudin, were members of the U-16 squad that thrashed Tajikistan 6-2 at the 2018 U-16 AFC Championship in Kuala Lumpur.



Meanwhile, the ceremony saw defending champions Saudi Arabia being drawn into Group C with Australia, Vietnam and Laos

Group A features Uzbekistan, Indonesia, Cambodia and four-time champions Iran, while stiff competition is expected in Group B, with 12-time champions South Korea going up against five-time winners Iraq, 2016 winners Japan and Bahrain.

The 2020 AFC U-19 Championship is also the qualifying round for the 2021 U-20 World Cup, with the current squad aiming to be first Malaysian team to qualify for the tournament on merit.