The Chinese men's football team are in Haikou, Hainan Province, for a 10-day training camp to begin preparations for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

Coach Branko Ivankovic told his squad of 32 players that the current period is crucial to the team's chances of reaching next year's finals in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

After their last matches in 2024, China, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Bahrain had all collected six points in Group C, but Japan still led the way with Australia sitting second. The top two teams qualify directly, while the third and fourth-placed sides move into additional rounds of qualifying.

China kept their hopes alive after beating Indonesia in October and Bahrain in November, and Croatian boss Ivankovic believes the training camp in Hainan Province will give him a good sense of his best side.

"We are very happy to gather and train in Haikou, and hope to achieve positive results through this training camp," he said. "We have a lot of players this time, including several young players, and we want to see their condition. We will also analyze our previous games from qualifying, and tackle our problems from before."