The draw for the World Cup Qualifiers for the Asian Top 18 Qualifiers ended, and the head coach of the national football team, Ivan, participated in the draw ceremony on behalf of the national football team.
The 18 Asian teams are divided into 3 groups of 6 teams each, with the national football team as the fifth pot team and Indonesia, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Japan in Group C.
Indonesia seems to be the weakest in the group of the national football team, but there are many naturalized players in the team, which should not be underestimated. Bahrain is average among the West Asian powers, but Saudi Arabia can be regarded as the strongest team in Asia, but the national football team is not too afraid of the Saudi team in history. Australia is the bitter master of the national football team, and the national football team has not been dominant over physically strong teams. The Japanese team should be said to be the strongest in Asia, and it would be good for the national football team to score one point. At present, looking at the best results of the national football team, we strive to finish fourth in the group. The group stage matches are arranged as follows
2024.09.05 Japan vs China
2024.09.10 China vs Saudi Arabia
2024.10.10 Australia vs China
2024.10.15 China vs Indonesia
2024.11.14 Bahrain vs China
2024.11.19 China vs Japan
2025.03.20 Saudi Arabia vs China
2025.03.25 China vs Australia
2025.06.05 Indonesia vs China
2025.06.10 China vs Bahrain
The other two groups are grouped: Group A: North Korea, Kyrgyzstan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Iran.
Group B: Kuwait, Palestine, Oman, Jordan, Iraq, Republic of Korea
The qualifying rules for the round of 18 qualifiers, each of the 3 groups will play a double round-robin, the top two groups will directly qualify for the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and the three or four teams in the three groups will be divided into two groups, each group will play a single round-robin, and the first of the two groups will qualify for the World Cup. The two group runners-up will decide one more team from the other continents for the final qualification for the World Cup.
The national football team must finish at least fourth in the group to have any hope of qualifying for the World Cup. With the current strength of the national football team, there is still hope for winning the top four in the group, especially there are several Chinese Super League foreign players who are expected to become naturalized international players.
At present, Oscar, the striker of the Cangzhou Lions, is the most promising naturalization, but Oscar's ability is not very helpful to the national football team.
The most lacking of the national football team is the midfielder, Changchun Yatai's Brazilian midfielder Serginho is undoubtedly the most suitable, and it is said that Ivan is most interested in this player, Serginho can be naturalized as a Chinese player as soon as January next year, and can participate in at least three group games.
Whether Serginho is successfully naturalized or not has a great impact on the national football team's qualification for the World Cup.
Do you think there is a high probability that the national football team will break out of Asia this time?