0:7, the Chinese team started the journey of the top 18 of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers with a heavy defeat. Previously, although the Chinese team had not won against Japan for 26 years, the difference in points by more than two goals was only once. The 7:0 scoreboard at Saitama Stadium was therefore too glaring.
Facing Japan, the seeded team in Group C, the Chinese team in Pot 5 made a low-key appearance, based on defense, and won with fewer losses, which is also an acceptable result. China head coach Ivankovic recruited a number of young players who performed well in the Chinese Super League and sent a new midfield combination in the starting lineup, but youth and hard work alone obviously could not cut and block the smooth transmission of the Japan team, nor could they organize an effective counterattack.
Japan head coach Hoichi Mori's line-up was very targeted, with five attackers up front using the width of the field to open up the Chinese defence, allowing Kaoru Mikasa and Ritsu Doan to create a threat on both flanks. In the opening 12 minutes, Japan used blocking to easily break the corner kick defense of the Chinese team, and the unmarked Endo Hang easily scored with a header. Before the end of the period, China's defense was slackened again, and Japan's two wings formed a link, and Kaoru Mikasa nodded the goal.
In the first half, the Chinese team had less than 30% possession, and only Zhang Yuning completed a shot from outside the penalty area, which was also the only shot of the whole game for the Chinese team.
Falling behind by two goals allowed Ivankovic to completely overturn his first-half deployment, the adjustment of the three central defenders and the contraction of the defensive line, making Japan's midfield organization more comfortable. In the case of football awareness and game ability are not as good as the opponent, relying only on the accumulation of personnel in the midfield will only make the Chinese team more passive, after being scored two more goals by Takumi Minamino, Ivankovic has made a major change to the attacking line, but the appearance of Fernando, Alain and Baihelam has not brought any changes to the attack.
After that, Japan continued to refresh the biggest margin of China's World Cup qualifying loss, until Hisashi scored his seventh goal in injury time, and referee Jassim finally blew the final whistle.
Just before China's heavy defeat, Bahrain, a fourth-pot team in the same group, beat Australia, a second-pot team, 1-0 away, causing a big upset. From the starting line-up, the players of the Bahrain team are all from the domestic league and clubs in the U.A.E. and Kuwait leagues, and like the Chinese team, there are no players playing in European teams. But it is clear that the Bahrain players have the stronger ability to fight, adapt to the fast-changing pace of the game and, more importantly, play enough blood and aggression. Until the final moments of the game, the Bahrain team, with one more man, continued to attack and finally forced the opponent to score an own goal.
The process and results of the first two games in Group C have allowed China to score points against Bahrain and Indonesia, and their hopes of fighting for the top four in the group are much slimmer. When Chinese players have become accustomed to the "comfortable" rhythm of most of the games in the Chinese Super League, they will suffer from the ruthless "dimensionality reduction blow" of their opponents in the face of continental matches.
Just after China's heavy defeat, Palestine drew 0-0 away from Korea in Group B, following Bahrain, once again proving that the World Preliminary Round is full of suspense and surprises.
The Chinese team will need to quickly move out of the shadow of their first big defeat as they face their second opponents in Dalian in just six days' time, Saudi Arabia.
The World Round of 18 is long and full of variables, and it is reasonable for China to lose the match against Japan away, but if the team cannot always come up with the right way to solve the problem, it is not impossible to fall early and become a foil.