Players of China and Australia in action during their FIFA World Cup Asian qualifying match in Doha, Qatar, September 2, 2021. /CFP
Australia won over China 3-0 on Thursday in their opener of the final round of the FIFA World Cup Asian qualifiers.
Awer Mabil opened the scoring with a right-footed shot from very close range in the 24th minute.
Assisted by Tomas Rogic, Martin Boyle added a goal only two minutes later with a shot outside the box.
Mitchell Duke sealed the win at 3-0 at the 70th minute with a left-footed shot from the center of the box to the high center of the goal.
China have been drawn into Group B of the final round with Australia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Vietnam. The top two will qualify for Qatar 2022 directly. The third finisher will play a home-and-away playoff with its counterpart in Group A, and the winner will go into a continental playoff.
Elsewhere on Thursday, Saudi Arabia rallied to beat Vietnam 3-1 and Oman stunned Japan 1-0 with a late goal.