As China's women's soccer team embarks on its World Cup journey, the dynamics of China's men's soccer team's World Cup qualifiers have also surfaced. The AFC officially revealed that the schedule and draw dates for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers and the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers have been set. China's soccer team is classified in the second gear, to break through to the top 18, but also need to draw a favorable signing.
The draw for the first and second rounds of the Asian qualifiers will be held at AFC headquarters on July 27, when the 45 member associations kick off their journey to the 23rd World Cup.
Given the expansion of the 2026 World Cup to 48 teams, the Asian quota has increased to 8.5. The AFC will need to adjust the tournament in accordance with the latest rankings released by FIFA on July 20 and slot the teams.
With no international fixtures this month, our men's soccer team is locked into 11th place in the Asian rankings and will not be required to participate in the first stage of qualifying and will go directly to the second stage (top 36). The AFC has scheduled home and away matches from November 2023 to June 2024, with the top group of nine advancing to the top 18 and locking in qualification for the 2027 Asian Cup.
China's men's soccer team maintained its 11th place in the latest Asian rankings, securing the second slot. Teams in the same bracket include Uzbekistan, Jordan, Bahrain, Syria, Vietnam, Palestine, Kyrgyzstan and Lebanon. They will not meet in the group draw due to the avoidance of teams in the same bracket.
Our men's soccer team will participate in the second stage group draw and will need to face many tough opponents in the first stage, such as Japan, Iran, South Korea, Australia, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, as well as the second-tier Asian teams, Iraq, UAE and Oman. They expect a better draw, hoping that the UAE and Oman will play well in the first phase, while Iraq will need to be avoided, not to mention Japan and South Korea.
In addition, the third and fourth place teams are crucial to the success of our men's soccer team in reaching the top 36. The weaker the opponents, the better. For example, India, Philippines and Nepal in the third slot, and Maldives, Bhutan, Laos and other possible teams in the fourth slot will be the best grouping situation for our men's football team.
Before the Asian Cup draw, China's men's soccer team had already made the draw, and drew the weaker Qatar, Lebanon and Tajikistan.
The national soccer team chose to play a warm-up match against a weaker team such as Myanmar rather than Argentina, aiming to secure a win and avoid slipping down the Asian rankings as a result of unnecessary point deductions, which in turn could affect the World Qualification or Asian Cup classification.
