The 2026 World Cup will be expanded to 48 teams, and the number of qualifying places in Asia will increase to 8.5, so the competition for the Asian round of 18 in the World Preliminary Tournament is particularly fierce, as the 18 teams that advance to the round of 18 see the possibility of qualifying. So far, the Round of 18 has been played in four rounds, and only 4 teams remain unbeaten, and there are no teams that have won all of them, which shows how fierce the competition for the Round of 18 is, with Japan, Korea, Iran and Uzbekistan remaining unbeaten and leading their respective groups.
The round of 18 is divided into three groups of six teams each, with the top two teams in the group directly qualifying for the 2026 World Cup finals, while the third and fourth teams in the group will enter the fourth play-off stage to compete for the remaining 2.5 promotion places. China's men's football team, currently ranked 91st in the world and 13th in Asia, has been relegated to Pot 5 and placed in Group C, alongside Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Indonesia.
The strength of the Chinese team has declined from the peak in 2002, and now it has been reduced to the third-rate level in Asia, in the last World Preliminary Asian Zone 12 match, the Chinese men's football team and Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia in the same group, in the end only 2 draws and 4 losses, scored 4 goals and conceded 2 goals, in the face of these three Asian strong teams, the national football team has almost no power to parry. In the first three rounds of the round of 18, the national football team had a devilish schedule, with successive matches against Japan, Saudi Arabia and Australia, and the results were not unexpected, with the Chinese men's football team suffering three consecutive defeats, scoring only 2 goals but conceding 12 goals.
In Group C, the strength of the national football team belongs to the downstream, facing the top three teams, the initial goal is to concede as few goals as possible, the first round was beaten by Japan with 7 goals, which made the national football morale low, and in the second round against Saudi Arabia, the national football team was reversed by the Saudi team with a one-goal lead and a numerical advantage, which was the most regrettable game. In the third round against Australia, the Chinese men's football team was reversed again in a favorable situation of scoring first. Until the 4th round, the national football team faced Indonesia, and with the goals of Zhang Yuning and Baihelamu, the national football team defeated Indonesia 2-1 and won the first victory in the round of 18.
After 4 rounds, the latest standings in Group C, Japan is 10 points high, 5 points ahead of second place, and can basically lock in a promotion name. Australia, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have the same record, all with 5 points, the three teams are ranked second to 4th, Indonesia and China men's football team have 3 points, Indonesia has the fifth most goal difference, and the Chinese men's football team is at the bottom. Although the national team is still at the bottom of the table, they see hope of fighting for the top four in the group, because the difference between the national team and the second place team is only two points, and a win is enough to change the promotion situation in Group C.
On the evening of November 14, Beijing time, in the fifth round of the Asian round of 18 of the World Preliminary Championship, the Chinese men's football team will challenge Bahrain away. Bahrain, who are ranked 12th in Asia, are on a three-game winless run after a shock first-round win over Australia. In history, the national football team has played Bahrain a total of 7 times, the Chinese men's football team has achieved an undefeated record of 3 wins and 4 draws, since 1986, the national football team against Bahrain has remained undefeated, has a history of 38 years, so the national football team has a psychological advantage in the face of Bahrain, this key battle, the national football away only needs 1-0 to be able to reverse the backward situation since the start of the round of 18, the points instantly reached 6 points, because the second place in this round Australia and Saudi Arabia directly faced, so the national football team may climb to 3rd place in the standings after winning, the promotion situation will be very good.