China's national soccer team in the race for the 2026 World Cup first suffered a major setback on July 27, Beijing time.
Just today, the draw for the 36-team group for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying tournament in Asia was officially completed. China's national soccer team has been placed in the same group as the winners of South Korea, Thailand, Singapore and Guam, most likely Singapore. The group is considered to be a very challenging combination and some have even called it the "Group of Death".
As the national soccer team's record against South Korea over the years has really been more losses and less wins, in addition to playing Thailand, which has a history of 1:In a 5-game losing skid, Thailand just won the Southeast Asian Championships at the beginning of 2023. It's safe to say that their soccer is also developing fast. Singapore is also the strongest team in the fourth tier, which is certainly much better than Guam. So, against this backdrop, it's really easy to look bad for the national soccer team now that they've been assigned to this group.
At the same time, I have to say that there was an early reaction and counterattack from the handsome Kovic of the national soccer team. With this counterattack, it is not hopeless for the Chinese national soccer team to rank second in the group. We all know that the national soccer team can also fight in the last Top 12 tournament. Although they ended up with a fifth place, they didn't do very well, but the national soccer team at least went from the last Top 40 to the top 12, which means that they could at least get through the first round.
And Yankovic's backhand was announced, he has long started to form the national team with the core of the AFC BIG4. When the last national team list came out, many questioned Yankovic's selection of players only from the strongest teams in the league, such as Wuhan Sanzhen, Shandong Taishan and Seaport, which had 17 internationals in 4 teams, while the other teams only had 7 internationals, which was considered unfair. However, it now appears that selecting international players from the AFC Champions League teams is the main backhandedness of the new foreign coaches. As soon as the results of the national soccer draw come in, you will see that his backhandedness works.
Because what is the Asian Champions League system this year? Across the year system, if those teams who do not participate in the Asian Champions League in November no games, only training, training volume can not be guaranteed. The intensity of the matches cannot be guaranteed and cannot be adapted to the rhythm of the WC. The Chinese Super League season ends on November 4, and it is exactly in November that the national team begins to participate in the World Cup qualifiers. So selecting national team players from teams that can participate in the AFC Champions League ensures that they are in better shape. Maintaining form by playing in the AFC Champions League is one of Jankovic's most important strategies. Therefore, I am afraid that it is still too early for South Korea and Thailand to feel complacent about facing the national team.
