Team China really has its back against the wall in the race to the 2026 World Cup finals after a 0-2 qualifier loss to Australia on Tuesday in Hangzhou pushed the bottom squad in Group C to the brink of elimination.

Despite an inspiring effort to give it all against the Socceroos in the second half, Team China dug itself a hole too deep to remedy in the first half after conceding two early goals, scored by Australia’s Jackson Irvine in the 16th and Nishan Velupillay in the 29th minute, before suffering its sixth defeat in eighth match in the third-stage Asian qualifying tournament.

Still ranked bottom in the six-team group with six points, Team China now has to beat fellow group minnows Indonesia on the road and Bahrain at home in its two remaining matches in June to try to squeeze into the fourth-phase of qualifiers to keep slim qualifying hopes alive.

Adding three more ranking points from the Tuesday win at Hangzhou’s Olympic Center Stadium, Australia has cemented its second-place position in Group C led by runaway leader Japan and boast a promising chance to secure one of the two direct qualification spots offered to the top-two finishers in the current stage.

The third- and fourth-ranked squads in each of the three groups advance into the next phase, where two final direct tickets will be up for grabs.

The Tuesday match in the Zhejiang provincial capital saw a Chinese national record attendance of 70,588 fans for a soccer match in history at the main stadium for the Hangzhou Asian Games.

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn