At present, the Asian top 12 have determined 4 direct seats, Iran, South Korea, Japan to qualify without suspense, more unexpectedly, Saudi Arabia also advanced to the World Cup, allowing Australia to play the play-offs. Australia is the second gear team, Saudi Arabia is in the third gear, after saudi Arabia has been firmly in the first place of group B, until the ninth round by the Japanese anti-overtake fell to the second place in the group, of course, by the national football team dragged down.
Originally, Saudi Arabia had to win against the national football team, otherwise once the last round of the game against Australia lost, then it would be reduced to the third place in the group, which can be described as a waste of previous achievements. With Australia losing 2-0 at home to Japan, he locked in the third place in the group, allowing Saudi Arabia to receive a super gift, playing the national football team before lying in the World Cup finals, the sixth time in the history of the team.
With the early lock-up of World Cup qualification, the Saudi players immediately relaxed, and the game against the national football team kicked casually, and the attention was not concentrated enough. In the end, in the second half, a defensive handball foul in the penalty area was awarded by the referee, and Zhu Chenjie scored the penalty to help the national football team finally draw 1-1 with Saudi Arabia.
This draw directly led to Saudi Arabia being overtaken by Japan and falling to the second place in the group. In the last round, Saudi Arabia home against Australia, Japan against Vietnam, with Japan's state, strength, home three major advantages, score 3 points without suspense, while Saudi Arabia may also lose to Australia.
According to statistics, since the 1997 Confederations Cup 1-0 victory, Saudi Arabia has not won against Australia for 24 consecutive years, with a record of 2 draws and 4 losses, and the competition for the first place in the group has gradually drifted away.
Originally, Saudi Arabia had the hope of ending the round of 12 with 2 consecutive wins and pushing Japan to rank first in the group, so laying the foundation for a good group in the next World Cup, there is no hope in advance.
FIFA recently announced the 2022 World Cup classification rules, or according to the latest world rankings, Saudi Arabia is currently ranked 53rd in the world, if the remaining 2 round of 12 wins, it is possible to enter the third gear of the World Cup, and now after being dragged down by the national football team, enter the fourth gear of the World Cup in advance, that is, the last gear.
In the past, most of the teams that were assigned to the fourth gear of the World Cup were the end of the group stage round trip, because the group opponents drawn were generally very strong, Saudi Arabia was between first-class and second-rate in Asia, and it was only at the level of four or five in the world, and rushing to the top 16 of the World Cup was like ascending to the sky.
Compared with Saudi Arabia, Iran, Japan and South Korea can all fall into the third gear of the World Cup by relying on the points of the round of 12 and the ranking of the previous period, thus drawing a good group.