How did China enter the 2002 World Cup?

South Korea and Japan, as hosts, did not participate in the top ten competitions and directly entered the World Cup finals.

There are 4.5 World Cup places in Asia, and there are 2 besides Japan and South Korea.

Objectively speaking, apart from luck, the China team at that time still had some strength, with two victories over Oman, two victories over UAE, one victory over Qatar and one victory over Uzbekistan, with a total score of 19, two rounds ahead of schedule. All wins at home, only the last away game was 0:/kloc-0: lost to Uzbekistan.