The 2026 World Cup Qualifiers Asian Round of 18 has come to an end after 4 rounds, and the next stage of the tournament will start in mid-November, and the competition in the Asian Round of 18 of this World Preliminary Tournament is particularly fierce, because the 2026 World Cup has been expanded, and the number of promotion places in Asia has increased to 8.5, so nearly 50% of the teams in the round of 18 have a chance of advancing to the World Cup finals, so the teams have tried all kinds of means to compete for the 2026 World Cup tickets.
The round of 18 is divided into 3 groups, each group of 6 teams, the top two in the group directly qualify for the World Cup finals, and the 3rd and 4th teams in the group enter the fourth stage of the play-offs to compete for the remaining 2.5 promotion places. In Group C, Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Indonesia plus China are in a group where Japan, Saudi Arabia and Australia have participated in consecutive World Cups, and Japan and Australia reached the round of 16 at the Qatar World Cup.
After 4 rounds of the round of 18, the promotion situation of Group C is not clear, except for the Japan team, leading all the way, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain three teams are 5 points, Indonesia and China men's football team 3 points, the points gap between these five teams has not been opened, the difference between the second place in the group Australia and the bottom of the group Chinese men's football team is only 2 points, so a win in one game is enough to change the promotion situation in Group C.
In fact, in Group C of the Round of 18, the most surprising to fans is the two super teams of Saudi Arabia and Australia, Saudi Arabia and Australia are in a sluggish state at the beginning of the Round of 18, Australia quickly changed coaches after 2 rounds of winless, and scored 4 points in the last two rounds, rebounding strongly. The West Asian powerhouse Saudi Arabia team is still in a low period, coach Mancini has suffered a crisis of confidence, according to Saudi media reports, Mancini has been fired by the Saudi Football Association, so Mancini can take 30 million euros of termination money.
Saudi Arabia is ranked 56th in the world and 7th in Asia. Roberto Mancini came to Saudi Arabia last summer to coach with the aura of a European Championship winner. However, Mancini's record is not ideal, in the Asian Cup at the beginning of the year, the Saudi team stopped in the round of 16, and when the penalty shootout with Korea, Mancini, as the manager, returned to the dressing room early, causing the dissatisfaction of the Saudi team and laying the groundwork for Mancini's dismissal. Then in the round of 36, Saudi Arabia lost to Jordan at home in the final round, not only lost the first place in the group, but Saudi Arabia was reduced to a third team in the round of 18 and was finally placed in the group of death.
Saudi Arabia drew with Indonesia and Bahrain in the first four rounds, lost to Japan, only beat China 2-1, accumulated 5 points in four games, and the promotion situation was not good, and the Saudi Football Association could not bear it and intended to replace Mancini. In fact, Saudi Arabia wants to change the coach, and this time is the best time, because there is still nearly one month before the start of the fifth round, and the change of coach at this time can give the new coach enough time to adjust. Australia immediately ushered in a rebound period of one win and one draw after the change of manager.
Compared with the Saudi team, the Chinese men's football team finally ushered in the first victory of the round of 18 in the last round, and also instantly changed the promotion situation, in Group C, the Chinese men's football team is difficult to compete with Japan, Saudi Arabia, Australia three strong competition for direct qualifying rights, but the national football team can set the goal of the top four in the group, to achieve the goal of fighting for four, the national football team needs to suppress Bahrain and Indonesia, against Bahrain Indonesia 4 games, if the national football team can win all, then the points will be guaranteed 12 points, enough for the Chinese men's football team to compete for the fourth place in the group and enter the play-offs.