World Cup 2026: Zhan Jun urges China to use Georgia as role model in Asian ‘Group of Death’
- While Chinese fans say the team should ‘know their place’, the veteran analyst says China should learn from the Euro 2024 outsiders’ tactics
A mainland Chinese football expert believes China should learn from European football minnows Georgia by knowing their place and playing like the underdog in the third round of the Asian zone World Cup qualifiers.
China was placed into Group C alongside Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Indonesia at Thursday’s draw in Kuala Lumpur. Despite claims and media reports suggesting China was drawn into the “Group of Death”, some fans were quick to point out such sayings were nothing but “blowing one’s own trumpet”.
A Weibo user from Beijing labelled China as a team staying at the intensive care unit and had only been carried into the next round by Singapore, whose heroics against Thailand had helped China squeeze in.
“Can you guarantee reaching the next round if you’re to pick any five opponents yourself?” he wrote. “With such ability, it doesn’t make any difference going into any of those groups.”
Another comment read: “It’s probably not a ‘Group of Death’ when there’s China in the group.”
Another comment from Beijing joked that China was playing at a “mini World Cup” to be in the same group with three teams who at least had managed one win each at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
