The referee showed nine yellow cards in the match, six to Qatar and three to China.

China coach Sun Jihai told Xinhua after the match that China still lags far behind top teams in the world - and even in Asia.

Sun said Chinese players are still making mistakes in basics, and they need international competitions such as the Toulon Tournament to accumulate experience.

Looking ahead to China's next match against Mexico, Sun said Mexico is a very strong team and the Chinese do not have a numerical target in mind.

"We will prepare diligently. and try to do better in details - than we did today," he said.

In the other game of the same group, Mexico and reigning champion England grinded out a scoreless draw.