0-1, 1-0!World Preliminary Dark Horse: Asian runner-up or upset, national football situation: 10 points to advance

Chat about the ball in the middle of the mountain

2024-04-25 06:48Published in Fujian

The 2026 World Cup Qualifiers Asia is the earliest qualifier to begin, with four rounds played in the second stage of the round of 36, with a total of nine teams advancing to the round of 18, and the remaining nine places in the round of 18 will be decided in the last two rounds in June. In the first four rounds of the competition, there are a number of dark horse teams that will challenge for the top 18 qualification.

Due to the expansion of the 2026 World Cup, the Asian region has obtained 8.5 qualification places, and Asian countries have ideas about the promotion places, in addition to the traditional Japan, South Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Australia, these five first-class teams, Qatar, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and other teams also have the opportunity to impact the World Cup finals, and even Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and other third-rate teams have also revealed their ambitions to compete for the promotion places.

Group G consists of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Tajikistan and Pakistan, with Saudi Arabia seeded and 10 points after four rounds, a place has basically been determined, and the remaining one place will be between Jordan and Tajikistan. Jordan is currently second in the group with 7 points, Tajikistan is third in the group with 5 points, and the difference between the two teams is only 2 points.

Jordan and Tajikistan are the dark horse teams in the Asian Cup in Qatar at the beginning of the year, and the Jordanian team is ranked 71st in the world, but in the Asian Cup, the Jordanian team eliminated Iraq, Tajikistan, and South Korea all the way to the final, and lost to Qatar 1-3 in the final to win the runner-up, which is also the best result in the Asian Cup in Jordanian football history. The results in the Asian Cup also gave Jordan confidence in advancing to the round of 18.

Tajikistan is ranked 99th in the world, and the Chinese men's football team in the Asian Cup is in the same group, and finally Tajikistan beat the Chinese men's football team to qualify from the group, in the 1/8 finals, Tajikistan won by penalty kicks, knocked out the United Arab Emirates team, and reached the top 8 for the first time in the Asian Cup, and in the 1/4 finals, Tajikistan lost 0-1 to Jordan and missed the semifinals, but still created a team history record.

Tajikistan's upset 1-1 draw with Saudi Arabia in the World Preliminary Tournament was a crucial point that gave Tajikistan hope of qualifying from the group. In the 5th round of Group G of the World Preliminary Championships, Tajikistan will face Jordan away, and in the first leg of the meeting between the two teams, Tajikistan drew 1-1 at home to Jordan, and Jordan scored the equalizer in stoppage time. So in the second leg, Tajikistan has a chance to steal points from the Jordanian team.

In the 5th round of matchups, Tajikistan only needs to try to grab a point from the Jordan team to turn the situation around, because Tajikistan drew with Jordan, then after 5 rounds, Jordan has 8 points, Tajikistan has 6 points, and the difference between the two teams is 2 points. In the final round, Jordan will face Saudi Arabia, the strongest team in the group, while Tajikistan will return to play Pakistan, the weakest team in the group.

Jordan wants to defeat the Saudi Arabian team away from home, it is too difficult, only Jordan does not win Saudi Arabia, then the Jordanian team's points can only reach a maximum of 9 points, and Tajikistan played Pakistan in the last round, as long as the big score wins over Pakistan, then Tajikistan's points can tie Jordan, and then beat the Jordanian team by virtue of goal difference.

Therefore, although Jordan is the runner-up of the Asian Cup, the situation of promotion is very critical. In the 5th round of the World Preliminary Tournament in June, the Chinese men's football team will sit at home to face the rival Thai team, and the Chinese men's football team must score all three points at home, so that the points of the national football team will reach 10 points, so as to advance to the first round. If the Chinese men's football team cannot win, then the initiative to advance will be handed over.

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