China's World Cup qualification aspirations received a significant boost with a dramatic 1-0 victory over Bahrain in Riffa, courtesy of a Zhang Yuning goal in the 91st minute. This result came on the same day that Herve Renard marked his return to the Saudi Arabia dugout with a 0-0 draw against Australia.
The Chinese now have six points from five games, putting them level with both Australia and Saudi Arabia, and four points behind Japan in Group C. The qualifiers are now at the halfway stage.
In Group B, South Korea strengthened their position at the top with a 3-1 win over Kuwait. Meanwhile, Group A leaders Iran narrowly defeated North Korea 3-2, despite conceding two goals after Shojae Khalilizadeh's red card in the 51st minute.
The top two teams from each of Asia's three qualifying groups will automatically advance to the 2026 World Cup finals in North America, with the third and fourth-placed nations progressing to another phase of preliminaries.
China's victory over Bahrain reignited their hopes of making their first World Cup appearance since 2002. Zhang's close-range goal came just moments after Ali Haram's effort was disallowed by VAR for offside.
Australia and Saudi Arabia shared the points in Melbourne, leaving the Australians in second place on goal difference from Renard's Saudi Arabia, with China in fourth. Bahrain are fifth with five points.
Japan leads Group C with 10 points and will face last-placed Indonesia in Jakarta on Friday. Iran consolidated their position at the top of Group A after surviving a turbulent second half to defeat North Korea in a five-goal thriller.
South Korea's Son Heung-min scored his 50th international goal in their 3-1 victory over Kuwait, maintaining their grip on top spot in Group B.
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