[4] Forty-three of the 47 AFC member associations, including the final tournament hosts Qatar, submitted their interest to compete in the qualifiers.

The draw took place on 25 May 2023 at 15:00 MST (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

[5] The teams were seeded according to their performance in the 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup final tournament and qualification.

[6] As Qatar already qualified for the final tournament as hosts and their fixtures will be considered as friendly matches, they were seeded as an unranked team for the draw and placed in Pot 4.

The eleven group winners and the four best runners-up qualified for the final tournament.