Photo: VCG

 
A dominant Saudi Arabia side dealt the Chinese national football team a blow with a 1-0 win at home in Riyadh early Friday morning Beijing time, leaving the Chinese team bottom of the six-team group with 6 points and facing an uphill battle to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.  

In the first half, the Chinese men's football team suffered consecutive setbacks. First, Jiang Guangtai was substituted due to injury, replaced by Han Pengfei. Shortly afterward, Lin Liangming was shown a direct red card for raising his leg too high during a tackle, according to CCTV. In the 50th minute, Salem Al-Dawsari pushed the ball into the net from inside the penalty area, scoring the only goal of the match.

China now trail Japan (19 points), Australia (10 points), and Saudi Arabia (9 points), and are level on 6 points with Indonesia and Bahrain. To qualify, they must get a favorable result at home against Australia next week in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, and will probably need to win the remaining two matches against Bahrain and Indonesia.

The top two teams in the group will automatically qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, while the third- and fourth-placed teams will go on to play in the fourth and fifth rounds. 

Japan have already secured top place in the group, making them the first team to qualify for the World Cup after hosts Canada, Mexico and the US.