Chinese clubs are spending a fortune on players but the national team are 86th in the world rankings and have little chance of going to the World Cup in Russia
By Cameron Wilson for Wild East Football, part of the Guardian Sport Network
China host South Korea in a World Cup qualifier on Thursday but, with the home side already all but out of the running for a place in Russia, serious issues already threaten their chances of making it to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. China scraped through the first of two group stages in the Asian qualifiers but they have not won any of their five games so far in the second group stage. They sit bottom of their qualifying group – behind Iran, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Syria and Qatar – and, even if they pull off an unlikely victory against South Korea at the Helong Stadium on Thursday night, it would only postpone their inevitable exit.
China are not a million miles behind the continent’s leading teams, such as Japan and Australia, but there is a clear talent gap – not that their supporters or media see it that way. When their elimination arrives, be it next Tuesday when they travel to group leaders Iran, or later, the reaction in China will be as angry as ever from fans and media, who have hugely unrealistic expectations.
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