China will face Qatar in the final Group A match of the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup at Alaiyan Khalifa International Stadium in Qatar on the 22nd (Korea time).
While Qatar has confirmed its advance to the round of 16, China will also challenge to pass the group stage.
In Group A, Qatar is leading the group with six points with two wins. It confirmed its first place in the group and advanced to the round of 16.
China is second with two draws and two points. Levant-gwan and Tajikistan are competing for the bottom place with one draw, one loss, and one point.
As a result, China can make it to the round of 16 by itself. If it wins the match against Qatar, it will be possible.
Of course, chances are not high for the team to win. China already had a draw against Tajikistan and Lebanon. It even boasted that it played two matches without allowing even a single goal.
For now, China is preparing for the final match to win the match against Qatar.
In addition, even if Qatar is tied, if Tajikistan and Lebanon are tied at the same time, China will record the second place in the group with three draws in three games.
If the match between Tajikistan and Lebanon is decided, however, China will drop to the third place and have to compete with the third-place teams in other groups. The qualification for the round of 16 teams at this year's event will go to the first and second places in six groups, and the top four teams with good performance among the third places in their respective groups.
If the team loses to Qatar, the situation will become even more difficult. If Tajikistan and Lebanon are tied, the three teams will tie with two points, and since the matches against the three teams are all tied, the team should consider the overall difference in gains and losses and multiple points in the group league.
On the contrary, if China loses to Qatar and wins or losses in the Tajikistan-Lebanon match, China will fall to third place in the group with two points. The third-place teams, which earned three points during the 2019 tournament, are virtually eliminated, considering that their joys and sorrows were mixed.
Since Qatar has confirmed its passage to the group stage, China is looking forward to it. This is because there is a high possibility that it will not play excessively.
However, if you look at the past two games, China is unlikely to be sure of its victory over Qatar's second-tier team.
"Even if Qatar kicks off the rotation, its overall capability is still superior to that of China. If Qatar's rotation lineup is not much different from that of its main players, it will face a life-or-death battle," Sohu said. "However, if Qatar loses to Qatar, which has adopted the rotation, its chances of failing to advance to the round of 16 teams will increase and it will face greater public pressure. It will be completely unacceptable."
If China fails to win the final match, it will face the highest humiliation in Chinese soccer.
China finished the group league with one draw and one loss in 1976 and will conclude the group league without a win for the first time in 48 years. It is also the first time since the 1992 tournament in which four teams were organized in a group.