Five players dropped before China heads for Sharjah for World Cup qualifiers

BEIJING, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Five players have been dropped before the Chinese men's team departs for Sharjah, the UAE to play their next two FIFA World Cup qualifiers as hosts, the Chinese side announced on Friday.

Guo Tianyu, Wei Shihao, Wang Shangyuan, Yin Hongbo and Gao Zhunyi were excluded from the squad, which was revealed on Friday for China's upcoming World Cup qualifier against Oman and Australia.

The first four of those five players were dropped for family reasons with Gao due to injury, the Chinese side said.

The Chinese team of 26 players will set out early next Sunday for Sharjah, where Barcelona-based Wu Lei will join up with them.

China will meet Oman next Thursday before facing Australia five days later.

Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, this will be the third time that China go to Sharjah to play home games in their turbulent World Cup qualification campaign.

They beat the Philippines, Maldives and Syria in Sharjah in the second round of the Asian World Cup qualifier in June before holding off Vietnam there in the third round early in October.

With one win and three losses, China currently sits nine points behind Group B leader Saudi Arabia, which has the maximum 12 points from their first four games. Australia stays in second place with nine points.

The top two from both six-team groups in Asia qualify directly for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The two third-placed teams will then face each other in a two-legged playoff, with the winner of that tie entering an intercontinental playoff.