The European Cup and the Copa America are underway, and many domestic fans are more concerned about the prospects of the Chinese men's football team. In the group draw ceremony held earlier, many people believed that the national football team was divided into a "group of death", because there were three teams in the same group that participated in the last World Cup, and the prospects for qualification were suddenly bleak and not optimistic.
With Saudi Arabia falling to seventh place in Asia and only being placed in the third tier, Japan, Australia and Saudi Arabia ended up in the same group, and the competition became quite fierce. According to the rules of the tournament system, the top two teams in the group can directly qualify for the World Cup, in other words, at least one of the three traditional powerhouses in Asia will not be able to qualify for the World Cup from this stage.
At the same time, the third and fourth places in the three groups will enter the fourth stage of the group stage. There are a total of 6 teams, divided into two groups, and the top team will also get a ticket to the World Cup. The runners-up in the two groups will compete for a place in the continental play-offs.
What's more unfavorable is that the schedule of the national football team is from difficult to easy, with two away games in the first three games, facing Japan, Saudi Arabia and Australia respectively, followed by Indonesia and Bahrain, and the order of the second round of matches is the same, but the home and away games are exchanged. Therefore, some pessimistic fans will feel that the national football team may usher in three consecutive defeats.
In terms of strength, it is really difficult for the national football team to win the top two in the group from the three giants. Aiming for the top four, or even fourth, and beating Indonesia and Bahrain is a realistic strategy. So, even if you lose three in a row, don't despair, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Australia are not the main opponents, as long as they get enough points against Indonesia and Bahrain, there is hope of reaching the fourth stage of the group stage.
Although the national football team has three strong teams in the same group, such a result is not unfavorable. With three strong teams vying for two direct qualification spots, it will not be easy for Indonesia and Bahrain to get points from the three teams. After all, the three strong teams don't want to have a "slip-up", and not being able to take all three points on a weak team is likely to mean staying away from the World Cup.
Therefore, the pattern of three strong and three weak makes the battle for fourth place more interesting, and the national football team may be able to benefit from it, after all, Indonesia and Bahrain are the real opponents of the national football team. If the national football team is placed in the group where South Korea is located, surrounded by South Korea and the rest are West Asian teams, maybe the situation is even worse. Looking at the previous World Cup qualifiers, the national football team was in a chaotic group, and finally fell behind South Korea, which was only 3 points away, which is enough to show that the more chaotic, the more advantageous.
Some people say that the national football team can advance to the top 18, which is a "pie" falling from the sky. Of course, the away game is only a one-goal defeat to South Korea, which is also the key to qualifying. The mental outlook that was shown in this game, and the fact that there were no more goals conceded in the end, can give the fans some hope and confidence. In the face of hard-won competition opportunities, it is also a success to be able to participate in at least 10 more games.
As the old captain Fan Zhiyi said, no matter what the result is, at least fight for a breath!