Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia were the first two to seal their places in the knockout stage after winning their opening two Group A matches, with China PR and Thailand suffering elimination.

The Central Asians defeated Saudi Arabia 3-0 to clinch top spot to set up a quarter-final clash with the United Arab Emirates, who finished as the Group B runners-up in dramatic fashion on Thursday. 

Japan survived losing 3-2 to Australia in their last match to top Group B after UAE battled to a 1-1 draw against Vietnam. 

The results left Japan, UAE and Australia tied on four points with the final standings decided based on points, head-to-head, goal difference and number of goals of the teams tied, meaning Japan will face Saudi Arabia in the quarter-finals on Sunday.

Over in Group C, the top two spots belonged to Indonesia and Korea Republic, who both won their final group matches on Thursday.

Indonesia were hot out of the blocks, with wins against Korea Republic and Yemen seeing them qualifying for the quarter-finals with a game to spare.

Two-time champions Korea Republic bounced back from their opening day defeat to Indonesia to beat Afghanistan and Yemen to book their quarter-final spot.

With all eight teams having secured their tickets to the FIFA U-17 World Cup Qatar 2025, the stage is set for exciting battles all the way till the AFC U17 Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2025 final on April 20.

Uzbekistan v UAE

Japan v Saudi Arabia

Tajikistan v Korea Republic

Indonesia v DPR Korea