I'll go to the finals no matter what! I'm in a team with Australia...U23 Asian Cup qualifying round, but he can't figure out the reality again

Aug 26, 2025

I'll go to the finals no matter what! I'm in a team with Australia...U23 Asian Cup qualifying round, but he can't figure out the reality again
신화Yonhap News



China, which will play in the preliminary round of the 2026 Saudi Arabia Under-23 Asian Cup, is anxious.

The Dongbang Sports Daily, a Chinese magazine, said on the 26th that the national team, which will play in the U-23 Asian Cup qualifying round in September, is under considerable pressure from the Chinese Football Association.

In next month's preliminary round, China is in Group D along with Australia, East Timor and the North Mariana Islands. In the preliminary round, which will involve a total of 44 teams, the first-place teams in 11 groups will go straight to the finals, and the top four teams among the second-place teams will be given tickets to the finals. China should compete with Australia for the top spot in the group, but its objective power is lagging behind. The second-place competition is also expected to be against opponents that China can never afford, including Kuwait (Group B), Palestine, Kyrgyzstan (Group E), Malaysia, Lebanon (Group F), Oman (Group G), Bahrain (Group H), the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong (Group I).




China's U-23 national team is led by coach Antonio Puche. Wang Wang-dong and Kwai Ji-won, who competed in the 2025 East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) E-1 Championship (East Asian Cup), joined the recently announced list. The Dongbang Sports Daily said '11 players under the age of 20 were included in the national team. The Chinese Football Association wants to continue to focus on the development of players who played in the Under-20 Asian Cup earlier this year.

I'll go to the finals no matter what! I'm in a team with Australia...U23 Asian Cup qualifying round, but he can't figure out the reality again
EPAYonhap News
Starting with the U-20 Asian Cup, Wang Wang-dong, who played an active role in the Chinese Super League and was even rumored to advance to Europe, showed little influence against second-class players from South Korea and Japan at the East Asian Cup. Even considering his young age and little international experience, it was difficult to call it the so-called 'top level' in all aspects, including physical and skill. The rest of the younger players who played in the East Asian Cup were also inferior to Wang.

The part that China can lean on is expected to be the home advantage. The preliminary round, which will be ranked by the full group stage, will be held from September 3-9 in the countries of one of the teams in each group. In Group D, China has applied for a bid and will play in Xi'an. The fact that the game will be held in a familiar environment is clearly expected to benefit China. However, as Australia flew to Korea earlier and focused on adaptation with two warm-up matches, there may be a situation in which such an advantage is not properly displayed.




China broke up with head coach Branko Ivankovic shortly after being eliminated from the third qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup. As he aims to pass the Asian Cup qualifying round, he has already set an evaluation reference point for coach Pucce. However, from a realistic point of view, coach Puche is bound to feel more pressure than confidence.








This article was translated by Naver AI translator.