China arrives in Saudi Arabia for World Cup qualifiers
RIYADH, March 18 (Xinhua): The Chinese men's national football team arrived in Riyadh on Monday night to begin its final preparations for Thursday's match against Saudi Arabia in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifiers.
Arriving from Dubai, the Chinese team landed at the King Khalid International Airport, where dozens of waiting fans welcomed them.
A representative of the Chinese Football Association told Xinhua that the team is in good condition after two weeks of training in Dubai. The team began training in Riyadh on Tuesday, aiming to be in top form for the Saudi Arabia match.
Japan currently leads Group C with 16 points, followed by Australia with seven points. Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and China are at six points.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab Times
3 hours ago
- Arab Times
Kuwait eyes consolation win over South Korea
KUWAIT CITY, June 9: Kuwait is aiming for its first victory in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers when it faces South Korea today at 2:00 PM (Kuwait time) at the World Cup Stadium in Seoul, in the final and tenth round of Group B. The Blues currently sit in sixth and last place in the group with five points, earned from five draws and four losses. In contrast, South Korea has already secured top spot with 19 points, followed by Jordan, which qualified for the World Cup for the first time in history after finishing second with 15 points. Iraq (12 points), Oman (10), and Palestine (9) round out the group standings. Kuwait was officially eliminated from qualification in the previous round after suffering a 2-0 home loss to Palestine. Now, it aims to conclude their campaign with a positive result, despite its dream of returning to the World Cup after 43 years, coming to an end—its only appearance was in Spain 1982. Head coach Juan Antonio Pizzi is seeking his first win in the qualifiers and his second overall victory since taking charge last July. His only win so far came against the UAE in the 26th Gulf Cup, hosted in Kuwait last December. Kuwait will be without Mohammed Daham and Khaled Al-Rashidi due to yellow card accumulation. The availability of striker Yousef Nasser remains uncertain after an injury sustained against Palestine. In addition, Eid Al-Rashidi has withdrawn from the squad for personal reasons. To compensate, Pizzi has called up goalkeeper Ahmed Adi (Al-Fahaheel) and striker Talal Al-Qaisi (Kazma). Despite these absences, hopes remain for a strong showing, especially as South Korea is expected to field a young lineup, according to their coaching staff. Pizzi still has a solid core of players to rely on, including: Fahad Al-Hajri, Mishari Ghannam, Reda Hani, Ahmed Al-Zanki, Ahmed Al-Dhafiri, Rashed Al-Dosari, Jassim Al-Matar, Mubarak Al-Fanini, Abdulwahab Al-Awadhi, Hassan Hamdan, Mohammed Khaled, Hussein Ashkanani, Yousef Majed, Hamad Harbi, Abdulrahman Al-Rashidi, Mahdi Dashti, Moaz Al-Asima, and Fawaz Ayed.
Arab Times
3 hours ago
- Arab Times
Saudi Arabia's World Cup hopes hinge on a near-impossible task against Australia
MELBOURNE, June 9, (AP): A Saudi squad that has scored six goals through nine qualifying games needs to beat Australia by a five-goal margin to earn a direct spot at the 2026 World Cup. Head coach Hervé Renard knows it's an extremely unlikely outcome for his Saudi team, but he's urging his players to go all in Tuesday in the last game of the third round of Asian qualifying for next year's global tournament. "The door is closed, but we have to try to qualify even if it is through the window,' Renard said after his team's 2-0 win over Bahrain last week kept Saudi Arabia in contention. "Everything must go very well for us if we are to qualify; we have to score goals.' Anything less than a five-goal deficit means Australia, in second spot in Group C, qualifies for a seventh World Cup. The last time the Socceroos lost by such a margin was in successive 6-0 defeats against Brazil and France in 2013. The Australians have scored 14 goals and conceded six through nine qualifiers. After successive World Cup qualifications through the playoffs, Australia is close to securing a direct route, but coach Tony Popovic is taking nothing for granted. "We need to do a job in Saudi Arabia,' Popovic said. "We're in a great position, but we need to finish it off.' Popovic has only been in the job since September, stepping in after Graham Arnold resigned after collecting just one point in the group's first two qualification games. "It's been an intense period since I've come in, but everyone's embraced what we're aiming to do,' he said. "And we're very close now to achieving our goal.' Asia has been allocated eight places at the 48-team World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The top two teams in each of the three groups in this round advance directly. The third- and fourth-place teams in each group go into another round, vying for two more places. Japan was the first to qualify and will top Group C regardless of the outcome between Australia and third-place Saudi Arabia. Iran and Uzbekistan have qualified from Group A, and South Korea and Jordan have qualified from Group B. If Saudi Arabia fails to win by five, it will join the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Indonesia, and Iraq in the next stage of qualifying in October. Oman, meanwhile, is fourth in Group B, a point ahead of the Palestinian team in fifth place, with the two teams meeting in Amman on Tuesday. "We still have everything to play for and we know what we have to do and that is to take all three points and continue our journey,' Palestinian coach Ihab Abujazar said.
Arab Times
4 days ago
- Arab Times
Kuwait delegation heads to Seoul ahead of final World Cup qualifier
KUWAIT CITY, June 5: The Kuwait national football team will depart today for Seoul, South Korea, as part of its preparations for its decisive clash against the host nation next Tuesday. The match marks the tenth and final round of Group B in the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be held in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The delegation is led by Ayman Al-Husseini, a member of the Kuwait Football Association's Board of Directors, and includes the team's technical, administrative, and medical staff. The squad features 26 players, among them Saud Al-Hoshan, Fahad Al-Hajri, Mishari Ghannam, Reda Hani, Ahmed Al-Zenki, Ahmed Al-Dhafiri, Mohammed Daham, Yousef Nasser, Khaled Al-Rashidi, and Rashid Al-Dosari. Other notable players in the traveling squad include Moaz Al-Dhafiri, Jassim Al-Matar, Mubarak Al-Fenini, Talal Al-Qaisi, Khaled Sabah, Suleiman Abdul-Ghafoor, Abdul-Wahab Al-Awadhi, Hassan Hamdan, Mohammed Khaled, and Hussein Ashkanani. The list is completed by Yousef Majed, Hamad Harbi, Abdul-Rahman Al-Rashidi, Mahdi Dashti, Moaz Al-Aseima, and Fawaz Ayed. The Blues are set to begin training tomorrow evening (Saturday), with the final training session scheduled for Monday at Seoul World Cup Stadium — the venue for Tuesday's much-anticipated qualifier against South Korea.
