The teams are basically finalized after all the matches in the World Cup Qualifying Tournament (first round of qualifiers). China will face South Korea, Thailand and Singapore. After the cumulative six rounds of home and away matches, the teams that finish first and second in each group will qualify for the next round (third round). Third and fourth, they declare farewell to the tournament and advance to the 2030 World Cup.
Round 2: The schedule is less favorable.
The second round is about to begin with a 36 to 18 rule. In this round, the competition lasted almost six months. The first PK Chinese football team will face Thailand in mid-November in the location of the opponent's home game location. The last match will be in the middle of June next year in South Korea to host the Taiji Tigers. According to the schedule distribution, China vs. South Korea must be the two strongest teams in this group. The matches between the two teams are scheduled in the second and sixth rounds, which is relatively unfavorable to the national football team.
After all, five days after the first round against Thailand, it's too late to adjust by returning to your own game against South Korea. In the sixth round, we had to play South Korea. If we didn't get enough points before, we could very well be in for a fight to the death. Therefore, this is a great test of Jankovic's ability to lead his team, especially against some relatively weak opponents such as Thailand and Singapore.
Round 3: Top two advance
The third round of the tournament is scheduled for the Asian Zone 18, which is the six out of 18 direct qualification rule. Due to the expansion of the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico, there will be 48 teams in the tournament. So the qualification for the Asian zone has also increased from 5.5 in the past to 8.5 now. so there are a lot of adjustments for the whole schedule, especially for the third round. But anyway, for the winner-takes-all game, for the Chinese men's national team, to advance, they have to try to beat their opponents and get enough points. Thinking only about the quota.
If they make it to the third round, the top 18 in the sub-region, they will play in three groups. The top two in each group will qualify directly for the World Cup, while the third and fourth place finishers in the three groups will advance to the fourth round of the World Cup.
Round 4: Final Match
In the fourth round, the six teams will be divided into two groups for a single round robin, meaning that two of the six teams eliminated will advance directly and two will play a play-off. The first place will get a ticket to the World Cup, while the second place will play a play-off against another continent, which will be twice as difficult.
According to FIFA's standings, China and South Korea should be able to break through to the second round and qualify for the third round. By then, if they are in a better group (after all, it's more spread out, and teams like Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Australia will be equally divided), then it's still not unlikely that China will have a realistic chance of qualifying for this advancement. If they go out in the third round (third and fourth rounds), I'm afraid it will be very difficult to advance to the fourth round.
