China lost to Australia 3-1, despite scoring first in a 2026 FIFA World Cup Asian Football Confederation (AFC) qualifier in Adelaide, Australia, on Thursday.

The Chinese visitors enjoyed a strong start and found the net in the 20th minute. Zhang Yuning headed the ball to Xie Wenneng, who then drove into the box and tallied his first goal for the national team.

Australia tied the game near the end of the first half. Craig Goodwin's free kick from the left wing in stoppage time set up Lewis Miller for a header that evened the score at 1-1.

The Socceroos took the lead seven minutes into the second half. Goodwin blew the ball into the left corner of the visiting side's net with a shot that was too strong and too fast to leave goalkeeper Wang Dalei with any chance.

Australia rubbed salt in China's wound by scoring their third goal of the night in the third minute of stoppage time. Chinese defender Li Yuanyi failed to clear the ball out of the box and Nishan Velupillay took advantage of the resulting scramble to seal the deal for the hosts.

The victory moved Australia to second place in Group C, while China suffered their third straight loss in the third stage, and continue to sit last among the six teams in the pool.

China will host Indonesia in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, on October 15 while Australia visit first-placed Japan.

Thursday's other matches in the Group C included Japan beating Saudi Arabia 2-0, as the Samurai Blue remained on top with nine points, while Bahrain and Indonesia battled to a 2-2 draw and sit in fourth place and fifth place, respectively.