In recent days, Chinese fans have received a lot of good news. For example, in the early morning of April 11, Wu Lei staged a kill in La Liga, and then Chinese teenager Guo Tianyu also made his debut in the Portuguese Premier League. In particular, Wu Lei's kill directly brought 3 points to the Spaniards, and after the game, Wu Lei was officially named the best player in la Liga. His blast against Celta was also a candidate for the best goal in La Liga's 31st round.
This morning, Beijing time, Chinese fans ushered in a particularly good news. According to the "Sports Weekly" published today, the final stage of the 2026 World Cup Asian Qualifiers will be expanded from this year's "Round of 12" to "Round of 18". How is the Round of 18 produced (i.e. the first two stages of the qualifiers)? The AFC has prepared two drafts for discussion by its member associations. The most interesting thing is how the Round of 18 produces 8.5 qualifying places? The first is the third stage: the 18 teams will be divided into 3 groups of 6 teams, on a home-and-away basis, and the seats will be arranged according to the points. The top 2 in each group qualified and went straight to the final stage of the World Cup, generating 6 out of line teams. The 3rd and 4th places in each group will qualify for the fourth stage play-offs; the 5th and 6th places in the group will be directly eliminated.
In terms of strength, it is unlikely that the Chinese team will strive for 6 places directly qualified for the "Us,Canada-Mexico World Cup" in the third stage. But the hope of becoming the 3rd or 4th place in the group is still great, so Chinese fans are more concerned about how to play the play-offs in the fourth stage. In fact, it is not complicated, the 6 teams are divided into 2 groups, and the home and away system is ranked according to the points. The first place in the two groups became the 7th and 8th spending teams in the Asian zone, and the second place in the two groups began another round of home-and-away knockout matches to compete for 0.5 seats for the intercontinental play-offs.
Obviously, the goal of the Chinese team should be locked in the "7th and 8th expenditure line teams in the Asian region", and must not play the intercontinental play-offs, because the gap between the strength of the Chinese team and the top 8 teams in South America and the top 6 teams in Central and North America is too large, unless it plays with the 2nd place in Oceania, the national football team still has a little hope.
Of course, the above plan is only in the discussion stage at present, after all, the 2022 World Cup has not yet started. But despite this, the news also made Chinese fans very excited. After the national football team missed the Qatar World Cup, many football celebrities said that the Chinese men's football team did not qualify for the World Cup for at least 20 years. Now it seems that this is not the case! The next World Cup is promising!
Of course, when it comes to playing the round of 18, the coaching team of the national football team must be selected well. The strength of the Korean team is so strong, they all invite foreigners to be the coach, and the national football team must also invite the most suitable foreign coach to lead the national football team to enter the World Cup again!