China’s hopes of advancing past the second round of 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying were boosted yesterday when the Asian Football Confederation said the nation would host all the remaining Group A qualifying matches, while Taiwan face a trip to Kuwait to play their remaining three matches.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused havoc for the Asian qualifying tournament, with the majority of matches originally rescheduled for this month pushed back to June.
Kuwait host the remaining games to be played in Group B, which also features Taiwan, Australia, Jordan and Nepal.
Iran travel to Bahrain in Group C, where the hosts are to be joined by Iraq, Hong Kong and Cambodia, while Saudi Arabia are to host Uzbekistan, Singapore, Yemen and Palestine in Group D.
Oman, Afghanistan, India and Bangladesh are to play their Group E matches alongside Qatar in Doha, while Group F leaders Japan are to host Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Myanmar and Mongolia.
The United Arab Emirates are to welcome Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand for Group G, while South Korea host Group H rivals Turkmenistan, Lebanon, North Korea and Sri Lanka.
The matches are scheduled to be played from May 31 to June 15.
Taiwan are bottom of Group B having lost all five of their matches so far with a minus-23 goal-difference. They are due to face Nepal, group leaders Australia and Kuwait in their remaining three matches.
Lippi’s China beat the Maldives and Guam, but drew with the Philippines and lost to Syria in their four matches, prompting the Italian to stand down in November 2019.
China are now coached by former Everton midfielder Li Tie.
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