Just tie the team and qualify, the U22 national football team did it!

On the evening of September 9, at the Xi'an International Football Center, a battle about qualifying was fiercely staged. The Chinese men's football team U22 ushered in a key showdown with the Australian U22 team in the third round of Group D of the 2026 U23 Asian Cup Qualifiers. In the end, the two sides shook hands 0-0 and made peace. With this precious point, the Chinese team won the second place in Group D, thus successfully taking the last bus to advance to the 2026 U23 Asian Cup with the best results in the four groups.

In the previous two rounds of qualifiers, the Chinese men's football team U22 showed strong strength. In the first match against the East Timor U22 team, although the process was a little ups and downs, the players finally won 2-1 and got off to a good start. In the second round, facing the Northern Mariana Islands U22 team, the Chinese team was fully fired, leading 1-0 in the first half, and even more unstoppable in the second half. After Wang Yudong appeared on the bench, he showed his power, made 7 goals alone, wore a hat and assisted to double hits, leading the team to defeat his opponent with a huge score of 10-0, greatly improving the team's morale and goal difference advantage. After two rounds, the Chinese men's football team U22 team scored 6 points with the Australian U22 team, but the Australian team temporarily ranked first in the group with the advantage of goal difference. According to the competition rules, the first place in 11 groups and the second place in 4 best-achieved groups can be qualified to advance to the final stage. This means that if the Chinese men's football team U22 can defeat Australia in this game, they will directly qualify as the top spot in the group; if both sides draw, the two teams will qualify together due to more goals. Once the Chinese men's football team U22 loses, the situation will become extremely serious and may even miss the qualification for the main competition.

Facing the strong Australian team, the Chinese men's football team U22 adopted a tactical strategy of defending and counterattacking in this game, and the starting lineup was 541. In the first half, the Chinese men's football team U22 team was based on defense and limited the offensive rhythm of the Australian U22 team. The defensive players united and successfully resolved the opponent's threatening attack many times. The midfielders actively fought and cut off the opponent's passing line. Although the ball possession rate was less than 30% and zero shots were on the right side, they also successfully curbed the opponent's offensive and forced the opponent to hand in the first half of the 0 shots. After the first half, the two sides temporarily ended 0-0.

The Chinese men's football team U22 still maintains tenacious defensive resilience while looking for opportunities in counterattacks. Front players such as Wang Yudong and Baihe Lamu were running actively, trying to use their speed to attack the opponent's defense. The Australian U22 team strengthened its offensive efforts and continuously put pressure on the Chinese team's goal, but the Chinese team's defense line, led by Xu Bin, Hu Hetao and others, stood firm and resolved the crisis again and again.

In the end, the whole game ended, and the Chinese men's football team U22 drew 0-0 with the Australian U22 team. With this draw, the Chinese team scored 7 points and stood out among the second place in 11 groups with 11 goals, successfully succeeded in one of the four best-achieved second places in the group, advancing to the 2026 U23 Asian Cup.

This qualifying is of great significance to the Chinese men's football team U22. It is not only the best reward for the players' hard work and hard work, but also accumulates valuable experience and confidence for the team in future games.

Text/Wenyuan

Picture/Weibo