Saudi Arabia defeat China 3-2 in Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifiers

Sami Al-Naji's first-half brace helped Saudi Arabia defeat China 3-2 in the final round of the FIFA Qatar 2022 World Cup Asian Zone qualifiers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday.

Team China were outclassed by Australia and Japan in their first two games and notched up their first win over Vietnam 3-2 by an injury-time winner. Saudi Arabia have extended their winning streak to four victories in a row as Vietnam remain rooted to the bottom of the group.

Saudi Arabia opened the scoring in the 15th minute when Al-Naji netted home with a right-footed shot to the bottom right corner at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium. The 24-year-old Saudi striker added another in the 38th minute from a very close range to the center of the goal on Sultan Al-Ghannam's cross.

After the restart, China pulled back the score to 1-2 with Luo Guofu's right-footed shot from the left side of the box in the 46th minute. But Feras Al-Brikan tapped in the ball to put Saudi Arabia 3-1 ahead in the 72nd minute.

China's Wu Xi fired home with a left-footed shot from outside the box in the 87th minute to help China close the scoring again to 2-3 but failed to turn the game around.

China were included in the Group B of the Qatar 2022 World Cup Asian Zone qualifiers, along with Australia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Vietnam. The top two from both six-team groups qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar automatically. The two third-placed teams will then face each other in a two-legged playoff, with the winner of that tie entering an intercontinental playoff.

Other Asian Zone qualifiers on Tuesday included Japan, which edged past Australia 2-1, while Vietnam lost 1-3 to Oman.

(XINHUA)