Thread by @r_hood09

Spot on by @23ibiano in his interaction with @MarcusMergulhao in explaining the importance of proving ourselves as world class in the Under 17 and 20 @afcasiancup and @FIFAcom competitions.

Here is what is looks like for Asia's top 10, where we have not made the U20's since 2006

"You have to win, and if I have to develop word class players, we need to play World Cups at this level; the under-17, under-20.” no nonsense statement here with clear emphasis on winning to prove that we are world class.

India's results in AFC U17 and 20 👇🏿

(top 10 Asia) Further up the competition platforms we can see how form in the Under 20 and 23 competitions plays a role in senior team success.

Clear how this looks for the Top 10 nations especially in the AFC U20 and 23.

Despite the win record at the tournament, we would feature regularly at AFC U19/20 till about 2006 (where we were hosts)

A swarm of changes for this age group in particular came in after that drastically affected our qualifying success.

🤞🏿for positive and productive changes

As tweeted earlier, success at U17 level is a very limited indicator for senior team success, which is why it will be interesting to follow how all of this translates into senior team success over the years via the U20 and 23 route.

Link: frontiersin.org/articles/10.33…

Easy to spot the role of a strong track record in AFC U20, 23 competitions leading to senior team success in who have finished as top 8 teams (@FIFAWorldCup 2026) in Asian WC qualifiers over the years