‘No score, no win in 3 games’ humiliation, China ultimately fails to advance to round of 16

Chinese players bow their heads after losing against Qatar

China, who had hoped for a miracle to happen, eventually suffered the humiliation of being eliminated from the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup with 'no wins and no goals in the group stage'.

China lost 0-1 to the 'host nation' Qatar in the final match of Group A of the tournament held at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar on the 23rd (Korean time).

China, which had drawn 0-0 in both previous two games, ended up finishing the group stage with 2 draws, 1 loss (2 points), and no goals, taking third place in the group after Qatar (9 points) and Tajikistan (4 points).

In this tournament, the first and second place teams from six groups advance to the round of 16, and the top four teams among the third place teams also receive tickets to the round of 16.

Because of this, China, which was unable to advance to third place on its own, had no choice but to watch the results of the third-place teams in other groups.

However, China's 'hope for the round of 16' was dashed sooner than expected.

The main characters who broke China's dream were Syria in Group B and Palestine in Group C.

Syria won 1-0 in the final match of Group B against India on the 23rd, earning their first win in this tournament and recording 1 win, 1 draw, and 1 loss (4 points), followed by Australia (7 points) and Uzbekistan (5 points). followed by taking third place in the group.

Additionally, Palestine experienced the joy of its first ever Asian Cup victory by winning 3-0 in the final Group C match against Hong Kong on the 24th.

Additionally, Palestine finished 3rd in the group with 1 win, 1 draw, and 1 loss (4 points), following Iran (9 points) and the United Arab Emirates (4 points).

Qatari players celebrate victory

The group stage from Groups A to C has been completed, and with the third group match of Group D to F remaining, the minimum number of points for the third-place team in the group to advance to the round of 16 has been set at '3'.

Among the third-place teams in each group, China was pushed out of the points by Palestine and Syria, which finished the group stage, as well as Bahrain and Indonesia (3 points), which still had one game left, and their chance to advance to the round of 16 was completely lost.

China, which advanced to the quarterfinals in both the 2015 Australian tournament and the 2019 UAE tournament, expected to repeat the glory of finishing as runners-up in its own tournament in 2004 ahead of this tournament, but ended up returning home with only a bitter result of 'no wins and no goals' in the group stage. 19가이드03