2026 World Cup qualifying: China’s fragile hopes face ultimate test in Japan rematch
Branko Ivankovic’s side have rekindled hopes of qualifying after back-to-back wins over Indonesia and Bahrain
China’s renewed confidence will face the ultimate test on Tuesday, as they look to build on consecutive World Cup qualifying wins against a Japan team that thrashed them 7-0 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 head coach Branko Ivankovic after Zhang Yuning earned the Chinese victory over Bahrain. “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 top the group by seven points from a three-strong chasing pack.
