Huang Bowen (left) of China competes for the ball with Abdelaziz Hatim (center) of Qatar during their 2018 World Cup football qualifying match in Xi’an, northwest China’s Shanxi province on Wednesday. AFP PHOTO
For the first time since 2001, China’s men’s national football team has made it into the final qualifying round for Asian teams seeking to advance to the World Cup. That puts China tantalizingly close to making its first World Cup since 2002 – the first and only time China made it to football’s biggest stage. China went on to lose all three matches in that World Cup, without scoring a goal.