China suffered a major blow to their chances of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup after losing 1-0 to Asian Zone Group A leaders Iran in Tehran on Tuesday. 

China had 42.4 percent possession during the match, but only had five shots on goal, compared to Iran's 12. China were firing blanks throughout the 90 minutes, with none of their shots on goal finding the target. 

China managed to complete 353 passes while the hosts were able to connect on 438. Based on possession and shots alone, it's easy to see why China lost, and how Iran stretched their clean sheet streak to seven matches.

In the group standings, undefeated Iran stay top with 17 points, followed by South Korea, who bounced back from last week's 1-0 defeat to China by beating Syria by one goal to nil. Third-placed Uzbekistan further pulled away from China after beating Qatar, putting them on 12 points, while Syria are in fourth place with 8 points. 

China need to win the three remaining matches and hope for favorable results elsewhere to have a chance of reaching their second World Cup tournament. The top two teams in the table will qualify for the tournament, while the team finishing in third place can move on to a fourth qualifying round against Group B's third-placed country, putting them in contention for a CONCACAF-Asian Zone play-off that would finally seal World Cup qualification.

In China's remaining games, they visit Syria on June 13 before hosting Uzbekistan at the end of August. Their final qualifier is against Qatar on September 5.