Qatar 2022: China’s World Cup home games moved to UAE
- Li Tie’s side have not played at home since beating Guam in May, will face Australia and Oman in Sharjah
- Qatar 2022 hopes hang by a thread as Chinese have one win and three losses from four games
The kick-off time will be announced after confirmation, they continued, though previous kick-off times in the region have been in the middle of the night for Chinese fans back home, as head coach Li Tie noted after their loss to Saudi Arabia in the last match.
“We want to play every game of the national team as the last game of our lives. We have to be worthy of the fans, especially the fans who stay up late to watch football,” Li said after the 3-2 defeat last month.
China’s players had been based outside the country for 48 days before returning home after defeat to the Saudis but they will soon leave again.
“The Chinese national men’s football team will set off in the early morning of November 7, Beijing time, and will go to Sharjah, UAE again, to make every effort to complete preparations and match tasks,” the CFA statement concluded.
There had been hope that China would finally play at home for the first time of this third and final qualifying stage for the Qatar 2022 tournament but the decision has been taken to play the next two qualifiers in Sharjah.
China have not played at home since welcoming Guam in May in the previous round, though both teams were swiftly relocated to the UAE to finish out the group stage as the region battled Covid-19.
There has been a rise in cases across China in recent weeks, with Shanghai Disneyland among the venues closed down by authorities.
China’s opening game in this third round saw them play Australia in Qatar in the Socceroos’ “home” game before China hosted Japan in Doha.
The previous international break saw China host Vietnam in Sharjah before playing Saudi Arabia in Jeddah.
Elsewhere, reports suggest that the Chinese Super League will resume on December 12. China’s top division has been on pause as the national team negotiate their World Cup qualifying campaign.
Li’s China side have won once and lost three of their four games so far to sit fifth of the six teams in group B.
The top two teams progress to Qatar 2022 while the third place side will play their counterparts in group A, with the winner facing an intercontinental play-off for a place at the World Cup.
