China picked up its first points with a 2-1 win over Indonesia in the third phase of their World Cup Asian qualifying Group C match in Qingdao, Shandong province, on Tuesday, but stayed bottom of the group on goal difference. XINHUA
A narrow home win against Indonesia has helped Team China catch a breath in a struggle to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, but it may not be enough to keep its slim qualifying hopes alive.
After opening its third-stage Asian qualifier for the 2026 finals with three losses in a row, the bottom-ranked Chinese team in Group C snapped its disappointing skid with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Indonesia on Tuesday in Qingdao, Shandong province, yet advancing out of the six-team group remains a distant prospect.
Even having drawn level with winless Indonesia on aggregate points, Team China remains ranked last after four fixtures in the current stage, trailing the fifth-placed Southeast Asian side by goal difference.
Continental powerhouses Japan, Australia and Saudi Arabia dominate the top-three spots, followed by an ambitious Bahrain at fourth.
Only each group's top two from the current stage directly qualify for the 2026 finals to be staged in the United States, Canada and Mexico, while, in the case of Group C, China has to battle against Indonesia and Bahrain for a fourth-place finish to squeeze into the next phase, where the final two qualification quotas for Asia will be up for grabs.
Still, the long-awaited first win from its second home game in the current phase has at least offered Branko Ivankovic's men a much-needed confidence boost, as well as a reason for the long-suffering Chinese fans to celebrate.
The standing ovation from a capacity crowd at the Youth Football Stadium after the Tuesday win has been a rarely-seen sight lately, with arguably the world's most tolerant group of fans left fuming at the team's lack of fight following its humiliating 7-0 rout by Japan and disheartening 2-1 home loss, even with an extra-man advantage, to Saudi Arabia last month.
Ivankovic, who's fallen victim to fan fury since the demolition by Japan, said the squad could finally lift its head above the water, at least for a short while.
"This win helped us relieve a huge pressure, even though we have a lot more tough battles to play," said Ivankovic, a 70-year-old Croatian, who took the Chinese helm in March.
"Indonesia is a tough opponent with a lot of naturalized players from Europe. They played aggressively. But we did a good job analyzing their playing style, prepared a good plan and our players executed it well tonight."
Despite starting strong to take a 2-0 lead with two strikes by forwards Behram Abduweli and Zhang Yuning in the 21st and 44th minutes, Ivankovic's men had to fall back in the second half when a surging Indonesia, bolstered by nine Dutch-born naturalized players, hit back, dominating possession and goal chances.
Behram Abduweli celebrates scoring China's first goal during the World Cup qualifying match against Indonesia in Qingdao on Tuesday. XINHUA
Amsterdam-born midfielder Thom Haye scored in the 86th minute to give the home crowd a jittery finish.
Team China, however, withstood the Indonesian counterattack to keep the one-goal margin safe through a tense nine-minute stoppage time, avoiding another second-half collapse as it did in the first home game against the Saudis.
"Congrats to Team China for the win. They showed a stronger desire for victory today," said Indonesia's head coach Shin Tae-yong of South Korea.
Ivankovic, a target of the angry chants of Xia Ke! Xia Ke! (step down!) from the crowd following the loss to Saudis, hailed the Chinese fans' unwavering support as a strong source of strength.
"The fans gave us huge support as our 12th player, and we paid them back with three points," said the former manager of Chinese Super League club Shandong Taishan.
"It was a hard-fought effort worthy of celebration but we shall move on and set our focus on the next opponent, Bahrain."
In the next window of qualifiers, Team China will clash with Bahrain on the road on Nov 14 before hosting group leader Japan at home five days later.
Entering the third stage as an underdog, the world 76th-ranked Bahrain proved it was underrated by stunning 25th-ranked Australia 1-0 in Melbourne, following a loss to Japan and a tie with Indonesia, and will put up a fight to bolster its qualification chances against China on home soil.
The lack of discipline and resilience in defense, particularly under pressure late in the game, rang alarm bells for Team China. The team conceded 13 goals in four games, the most of all 18 teams in the third stage.
Hopefully, the home win on Tuesday will help his teammates regroup mentally for a better performance, said captain Wang Dalei.
"The fans didn't give up upon us no matter how poor we played in the earlier matches. We also carried a lot of pressure on our shoulders that affected our performance," said the 35-year-old goalkeeper, who was called up by the senior national team for the first time at 17 in 2006.
"Now we are in a different state of mind after finally getting the monkey off our back. We are so happy and motivated to keep improving," said Wang, who currently plays for Ivankovic's former CSL club Shandong Taishan.
