The AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup, founded as the AFC U-17 Women's Championship and later the AFC U-16 Women's Championship, before changing to its current name after the 2019 edition,[1] is a biennial women's football tournament for youth teams organised by the Asian Football Confederation. It further serves as the qualifying competition for the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. The AFC agreed to the proposal for switching the tournament from under-16 to under-17 starting from 2022.[2] Thus, the tournament was rebranded from the "AFC U-16 Women's Championship" to the "AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup".[3]
Format
The tournament was first held in 2005 as an under-17 tournament. With only 11 teams entering in the inaugural year, there was no qualification held.[4] In 2007 the tournament switched to the under-16 tournament, again eight teams entered the competition.[5] In 2009 twelve teams entered and thus for a first time a qualifying round was held.[6] The 2011 edition featured two qualification rounds. Here five seeded teams for the finals were joined by an additional 13 teams fighting for a final sixth spot.
From 2026 on, the tournament will be held annually, as the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup will also be held annually. Additionally, the tournament will be expanded from 8 to 12 teams.[7]
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