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China's fragile World Cup hopes face ultimate test in Japan rematch
Victories over Indonesia and Bahrain have seen the Chinese overcome a run of three losses at the start of the third phase of Asia's preliminaries to rekindle dreams of a first World Cup appearance since their debut at the 2002 finals.
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Chinese player Yuning Zhang (left) celebrates after scoring China's second goal against Indonesia with Indonesia's goalkeeper Maarten Paes (right) during the third round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Asian qualification soccer match between China and Indonesia at the Qingdao Youth Football Stadium in China on Oct. 15, 2024. (Reuters/Florence Lo)
C
hina's renewed confidence will face the ultimate test on Tuesday as Branko Ivankovic's side host Japan looking to build on consecutive World Cup qualifying wins against the team that dished out a comprehensive 7-0 thrashing in September.
Victories over Indonesia and Bahrain have seen the Chinese overcome a run of three losses at the start of the third phase of Asia's preliminaries to rekindle dreams of a first World Cup appearance since their debut at the 2002 finals.
But the strength of China's recovery will be challenged when Hajime Moriyasu's runaway Group C leaders visit Xiamen threatening to dredge up painful memories of that defeat in Saitama Stadium.
"This isn't an easy group," said Brankovic after Zhang Yuning earned the Chinese victory over Bahrain on Thursday.
"Japan, Australia and Saudi Arabia are perhaps one level higher but we tried to compete against them.
"Bahrain and Indonesia can be seen as more our level which is why if we want to fight for a top four spot in the group, we have to pick up as many points as possible in those games."
Japan lead the chase for one of the group's two automatic berths at the 2026 finals as the schedule crosses the halfway point, Moriyasu's team topping the group by seven points from a three-team chasing pack.
Australia, who travel to Bahrain, fill second place ahead of Saudi Arabia and China on goal difference, with the Bahrainis and Indonesia fifth and sixth.
Eight Asian nations are guaranteed to qualify for the World Cup, with the first two finishers in the three groups advancing while the third and fourth-place teams advance to another round.
South Korea will seek to continue their dominance of Group B when they travel to Amman to play Palestine having drawn with Makram Daboub's side in Seoul in September.
Hong Myung-bo's side were booed off the pitch at the end of that game but have won all four matches since to lead Jordan and Iraq by five points.
The Jordanians occupy second place on goal difference and travel to Kuwait while Oman host Iraq.
Iran meet Kyrgyzstan in Bishkek aiming to maintain their three-point lead in Group A while second-placed Uzbekistan face North Korea in Vientiane looking to bounce back from a last-gasp loss to Asian champions Qatar.
Tintin Marquez will hope Lucas Mendes' stoppage-time goal has revitalised his side as Qatar look to claim back-to-back wins when they take on the United Arab Emirates.
