Match Preview: China PR v Australia | FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifier™

The Subway Socceroos travel to take on China PR on Tuesday, 25 March, for the second FIFA World Cup 2026™ Third Round Asian Qualifier in the March window.

Japan have now officially qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026™, confirming their place as one of the top two teams in Group C. However, the second automatic qualifying spot for the tournament out of Australia's group remains wide open.

The top two teams in each of the three Third Round Asian Qualifier groups automatically qualify for the World Cup. The teams that finish third and fourth in each group advance to the Fourth Round Asian Qualifiers.

Australia's 5-1 victory over Indonesia on Thursday means that the Socceroos remain second in the group, one point - and seven goals - ahead of Saudi Arabia who are in third. A win against China would mean that qualification remains in our own hands heading into the final two games of the group in June.

The Squad

Head Coach Tony Popovic was forced into making changes after the team's victory on Thursday. Adam Taggart (Perth Glory FC) was substituted off at half-time and will not be able to make the trip to China. Kusini Yengi (Portsmouth FC) will return to the UK after picking up an injury at training.

That means that Mitchell Duke (FC Machida Zelvia) has joined the Subway Socceroos’ camp in Hangzhou as a replacement.

Duke is an experienced Socceroo, with 45 caps and 12 goals to his name in his twelve years of involvement with the national team. He has been struggling for match minutes at his club, but comes back into the squad as a proven performer at international level and will add another weapon to Australia's attacking arsenal.

There are four outfielders in the squad hoping to make their debut against China - Nectarios Triantis, Kai Trewin, Alex Grant, and Ryan Teague. On the goalkeeping front, if Tom Glover or Paul Izzo were to make an appearance, it would also be their first minutes for the national team. The next Subway Socceroo will be Cap #649.

The Opponent

China PR have shown that they are more than capable of pushing for results in Asian World Cup Qualifiers and they are expected to be difficult to break down at home on Tuesday evening.

They have secured two wins in Group C, against Indonesia and Bahrain. However, they are coming into this game off the back of consecutive defeats. Most recently, against Saudi Arabia, they were defeated 1-0 after being hamstrung by a red card to Lin Liangmin just before half-time. He will be suspended for the game against Australia.

They have been led by Branko Ivankovic since February last year. The Croatian has previously coached clubs and national teams in Iran, Oman, and Saudi Arabia.

Last Time Out

The Socceroos last took on China in October. It was the first game of Tony Popovic's tenure. Fans in Adelaide were holding their breath to see what would happen - could Australia secure three points, or would China hold out?

China's Xie Wenneng opened the scoring in the 20th minute. With backs to the wall and pressure mounting, the Socceroos produced the football they needed to break the shackles.

Lewis Miller scored his first international goal just before half-time. Hometown hero Craig Goodwin gave Australia the lead on the other side of the break, sending the Adelaide fans into raptures. Nishan Velupillay sealed the result in second-half stoppage time.

It was the perfect start to the Popovic era and set the tone for what was to come.

FIFA World Rankings

Australia: 26

China: 90

Head-to-Head ('A' Internationals)

Played: 12

Wins: 6

Draws: 2

Losses: 4

Insights

Australia are undefeated in their last four men’s ‘A’ internationals against China PR (W3 D1); a fifth consecutive game would be the Socceroos’ outright longest unbeaten run against them in such fixtures (also W3 D1 from September 1985 to March 2008).

Tony Popovic is undefeated in all of his five men’s ‘A’ internationals as coach of Australia (W2 D3); the last Socceroos manager to begin their tenure on a longer unbeaten run in such fixtures was Terry Venables (W13 D3) from January to December in 1997.

China PR have lost six of their last eight men’s internationals (W2) including each of their last two and their only previous match in 2025 (0-1 v Saudi Arabia, 21 March 2025); the last time they started a calendar year with consecutive defeats was in 2022 (L2).

Craig Goodwin (Australia) has been directly involved in nine goals in his last nine men’s internationals (5 goals, 4 assists), including a goal and an assist when he last faced China PR (10 October 2024).

Jackson Irvine (Australia) has converted 75% (3/4) of his big scoring chances in men’s internationals since the beginning of 2024, the best rate of any Socceroos player in that time (min. 3 big chances); in addition, he’s won possession 97 times – 25 more than any other Socceroos player.

Australian form guide: W-D-D-D-W

China form guide: L-L-W-W-L

What They Said

Tony Popovic

"They haven't changed too much in how they've been playing, whether it's home or away. They sit in their block. They're very dangerous on the break. And we saw that with Indonesia. So we got a little taste of what could come against China.

"Maybe when we see the game in the morning against Saudi Arabia, we might see something different. But I'm not sure, away from home, whether it'll change. And we just have to be prepared. If they do press us that we can deal with that a bit better, and if they sit off, we understand that we have to build up our play and be connected better than what we were [against Indonesia]."

Martin Boyle

"It'll be a tricky game. We'll dust ourselves down. We'll get our recovery, which needs to be spot on. We'll do our video analysis on them, we'll work out their weaknesses, their strengths, and hopefully we can replicate another result like we did tonight.

Nishan Velupillay

"It'll be a tough test. I think every game in Asia is really difficult. As a qualifier, it's always going to be even more difficult. We'll be prepared."

MATCH DETAILS

China PR v Subway Socceroos

Tuesday 25 March 2025

Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, Hangzhou

Kick-off: 7.00pm local / 10.00pm AEDT

Broadcast: Paramount+

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