World Cup hopefuls Malaysia announce AFC U-16 Championship squad

Hosts Malaysia have announced their 2018 AFC U-16 Championship squad, which kicks off on September 20, as they bid to qualify for the FIFA U-17 World Cup for the first time.

Comprising entirely of National Football Development Programme (NFDP) players, head coach Lim Teong Kim's selection includes 10 players from Raja Azlan Shah Raja Soib's squad that finished third at the 2018 AFF U-16 Youth Championship.

However, there are no places for Asman Asrul Sukarnain, Fahmi Daniel Zaaim and Nuh Azlan Syah Yusof, who contributed five goals in total for the young Tigers at the tournament in Indonesia last month.

Malaysia will meet Japan, Thailand and Tajikistan in the #AFCU16 group stage. pic.twitter.com/NGDu4FqBFq
— Stadium Astro (@stadiumastro) April 26, 2018

Malaysia, whose best AFC U-16 achievement was reaching the quarter-finals in 2014, begin their campaign against Tajikistan on September 20, followed by Thailand (September 23) and Japan (September 26).

The four teams that progress to the semi-finals automatically qualify for the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Peru.

#	Name	Age	Position
1	Abdul Alim Al-Amri Ali	16	Goalkeeper
2	Sikh Izhan Nazrel Sikh Azman	16	Goalkeeper
3	Syahmi Adib Haikal Shukri	15	Goalkeeper
4	Ahmad Zikri Khalili	16	Defender
5	Ali Imran Sukari	16	Defender
6	Alias Alan	16	Defender
7	Alif Abdul Mutalib	16	Defender
8	Azannis Adzri Abdul Halim	15	Defender
9	Danish Ishak	16	Defender
10	Firdaus Bin Ramli	16	Defender
11	Hariz Mansor	16	Defender
12	Raimi Shamsul	16	Defender
13	Alif Daniel Abdul Aziz	16	Midfielder
14	Firdaus Kaironnisam	16	Midfielder
15	Harith Haiqal Adam Afkar	16	Midfielder
16	Ikhwan Hafizo	16	Midfielder
17	Syukur Fariz Januri	15	Midfielder
18	Umar Hakeem Suhar Rezwan	16	Midfielder
19	Amirul Azzim Ruzki	16	Forward
20	Danial Amali	16	Forward
21	Harith Naem Jaineh	16	Forward
22	Luqman Hakim Shamsudin	16	Forward
23	Najmudin Akmal Kamal Akmal	15	Forward