Previously, the national football team had missed the Asian Top Ten World Cup qualifiers three times. In this year's preliminaries, the AFC adopted a new competition system, and the top Asian 10 became the top 12, which was more or less beneficial to China. After all, the teams that entered the final stage increased by two places.
In the previous Top 40 draw, China was grouped with Qatar, Maldives, Bhutan, China and Hongkong, which was widely regarded as a good draw. However, the progress of the game was disappointing, especially when China played China and Hongkong twice, but only got two draws. The team's qualifying prospects were extremely bleak, and Perrin was dismissed.
In the face of desperation, the Football Association used Gao Hongbo, and Gao Hongbo turned the tide and helped China return to the top of 12 for two consecutive games. According to the official website of AFC, the draw for the 12 tournament will be held on April 12. At that time, the 12 team will be divided into six ranks according to the updated world ranking on April 7, with two teams in each rank. 12 teams will be divided into two groups by lottery, with 6 teams in each group. The top two of the two groups will advance to the 20 18 World Cup finals, and the third place will play off. The winner of the play-off will compete with other continents for a qualified seat.
12 When drawing lots, you should score according to the latest FIFA ranking. Considering that the national football team ranked only 12 in Asia in March, there will definitely be no good signing position. Moreover, judging from the teams that have advanced to the 12 (Saudi Arabia, Australia, Qatar, Iran, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Syria, Iraq and United Arab Emirates), China is not sure of winning against any side. And objectively speaking, Japan, South Korea and Australia are very prominent in Asia and are hot spots for qualifying. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Uzbekistan also performed better than China in the preliminaries. It is too difficult for China to qualify.
But for China, being able to return to the 12 top competition is a victory in itself. It is more valuable for the players to compete with the top players in Asia and learn from them than just playing some warm-up matches.