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| Photo = AFP Yonhap News |
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| 사진=XINHUA-XinHua Yonhap News |
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First, Indonesia laughed and China cried.
China's national soccer team, led by head coach Branko Ivankovic, lost 0-2 to Australia in Group C of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium in Hangzhou, China on the 25th. China was at the bottom with two wins and six losses (six points).
China lost points in succession to Jackson Irvin in the 16th minute of the first half and Nishan Belupilay in the 29th minute of the first half, leading to 0-2. The scene of the loss was not good either. The scene of Belupilay's loss was dedicated to goalkeeper Wang Dalay's error. According to the Chinese soccer media Dongchu-di, Wang Dal-yi "China is not a strong team, unlike South Korea and Japan. We have no choice but to do our best, but winning or losing depends on luck."
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| 사진=EPA Yonhap News |
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| Photo = AFP Yonhap News |
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Indonesia, which replaced coach Shin Tae-yong with "non-manner", secured its first victory under coach Patrick Clawybert. Indonesia won 1-0 at home against Bahrain at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia. Indonesia's two wins, three draws and three losses (9 points) kept the gap with second-place Australia (13 points) at four points. He continued his hopes of going straight to the World Cup finals.
Japan, ranked first in Group C, tied Saudi Arabia 0-0. Japan (6 wins and 2 draws) remained undefeated and secured the top spot in Group C. Japan loses all 9-10 games during the A-match period in June, and the ranking does not change even if second-ranked Australia wins.
Japan completed its trip to North Korea, China and the U.S. early in the match against Bahrain held on the 20th. On this day, Japan made changes to its starting lineup. Compared to the match against Bahrain, he changed his starting position to seven. Young players such as Takai Kota, who was born in 2004, were also boldly put in. Only Suzuki Zaion, Itakura Ko, Endo Wataru and Kubo Takefusa started two consecutive games. Japan overwhelmed its opponents throughout the game, overwhelming various indicators such as ball possession (78%-22%) and shooting number (12-1), but failed to score. The game ended 0-0.
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| 사진=EPA Yonhap News |
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| 사진=EPA Yonhap News |
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In Group A, Iran has confirmed its advance to the World Cup. Iran drew 2-2 against Uzbekistan with Mehdi Taremi's multi-goal lead. Iran (6 wins and 1 draw) maintained its gap with the third-place United Arab Emirates (UAE) at seven points. As a result, Iran qualified for the World Cup finals regardless of the results of the remaining 9-10 games.
Iran gave up the first goal to Hodimat Erkinov in the 16th minute of the first half. Taremi's score in the 7th minute of the second half balanced the score 1-1. However, a minute later, he allowed a goal from Avosbek Faizulaev. Taremi once again showed her concentration. Taremi's equalizer in the 38th minute of the second half confirmed her advance to the World Cup.
The UAE (13 points), led by former South Korean national soccer team coach Paulo Bento, beat the lowest North Korea (2 points) by 2-1. Fifth-place Kyrgyzstan (6 points) won 3-1 against fourth-place Qatar (10 points).
Since the North Korea-China World Cup, the number of participating countries has been expanded from 32 countries to 48. The number of World Cup tickets allocated to Asia has also increased significantly from 4.5 to 8.5. In the third Asian qualifying round, six teams ranked first and second in three groups will go straight to the finals. After that, six teams ranked third and fourth in each group will be divided into two groups and the first-place team in each group will take the ticket to the finals after the fourth qualifying round. The two teams, who finished second in the group in the fourth qualifying round, will go through the playoffs (PO), and the winner will compete in continental POs for the last time to go to North Korea and China.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
