China landed in Group B in the final round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (Asian Football Confederation, AFC) with Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Vietnam, as the draw result on Thursday showed.

Speaking to the AFC, China's manager Li Tie said he's satisfied with the result and the Chinese national team will do their best in each of the games. He hoped that China can play warm-ups with some strong national teams before the qualification as part of their preparation.

Iran, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon are in Group A.

Each team will first play 10 games, five at home and five on the road, with the five opponents in the same group. The top two teams of each group will qualify for the World Cup in Qatar. The two No. 3 teams will face each other in a single game before the winner participates in the intercontinental playoffs.

China will play three of their first five games at home. The schedule is as follows (home team comes first):

Australia vs. China on September 2

China vs. Japan on September 7

China vs. Vietnam on October 7

Saudi Arabia vs. China on October 12

China vs. Oman on November 11

China vs. Australia on November 16

Japan vs. China on January 27, 2022

Vietnam vs. China on February 1, 2022

China vs. Saudi Arabia on March 24, 2022

Oman vs. China on March 29, 2022

The last time China chased World Cup qualification, they reached the final round. With a 3(win)-3(draw)-4(loss) record, they were No. 4 in the group.

Japan, Australia and Saudi Arabia are the Pot 1, Pot 2 and Pot 3 teams, respectively, of Group B while China are from Pot 4. China lost to Japan and Australia in their last meetings but beat Saudi Arabia. Vietnam should be the easiest rival for China in this group since China are 9-0 against Vietnam in history. Oman may be the wild card because despite China's 3-2 record against them, Oman beat China the last two times they met.

(Second photo designed by CGTN's Feng Yuan)