At 0:00 Beijing time on March 30, the Chinese men's football team will challenge Oman in the final round of the Round of 12. Although it has missed the World Cup in advance, there are still 6 major points of interest in this game that deserve the attention of the Chinese people.
Watch point 1: Can the national football team avoid being overtaken by Oman in the world rankings
Although this match has nothing to do with the qualification for the World Cup finals, it is related to the FIFA rankings of the national football team and Oman. If the national football team loses this battle, the ninth-ranked national football team in Asia will be overtaken by oman in the tenth place. There is currently only 31 points gap between the two sides, ranking 75th and 79th in the world respectively. The national football team can only win or shake hands with Oman to retain the current position of 9th in Asia.
Watch point 2: Can the national football team maintain its unbeaten record against Oman in the final stage of the World Preliminary Round
The Chinese team has previously played against Oman in 6 official international matches, with a record of 3 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses. Among them, they played 3 times in the final stage of the World Preliminary Round, winning 2 wins and 1 draw, and remaining unbeaten. But Oman's strength is not weak, they have doubled Vietnam, defeated Japan away, and drawn the national football team and Australia, it is not easy for the national football team to keep this record.
Watch point 3: Can the national football team avoid the embarrassment of being at the bottom of the round of 12
After drawing with Saudi Arabia, the Chinese men's football team temporarily led the bottom Vietnamese team by 3 points. In the final round, Vietnam will face japan, which has already qualified in advance to determine that there will be a large-scale rotation, and Vietnam may take points or even win. The national football team can only strive to get at least 1 point from Oman to retain the current 5th place in the group.
Watch point 4: Can the national football team continue the unbeaten record after the previous World Cup out
From the beginning of the 1994 World Preliminary Tournament to the last World Preliminary Tournament, the national football team still maintains the record of total victory after the early exit. The last round of national football also very metaphysically forced the powerful Saudi Arabia. This game against Oman, whether the national football team can continue this unbeaten record is worth paying attention to.
Highlight 5: The battle with Oman is about the next World Preliminary Round
As the host team of the 2023 Asian Cup, although the national football team has automatically obtained the status of seeded team, if the international ranking further declines, then the team will be adversely affected in the next World Preliminary Tournament file division process. From the perspective of safeguarding the competitive interests of the competition, the national football team should go all out to fight for the Oman team.
Watch point 6: The curtain call of the "post-80s" national team?
For the 7 "post-80s" veterans of Arthur Junmin, Zheng Zheng, Zhang Linpeng, Wu Xi, Yu Dabao, Wang Shenchao and Wang Dalei, it is not realistic for them to continue to impact "2026" for the national football team in the future. This match with Oman is likely to be the last game of the round of 12 for these post-80s veterans to represent the national football team, or even the last time to play for the country. We also hope that the national football team can use a victory as the curtain call of the "post-80s" veterans.