If they can't do it on merit, are they hoping for a revelation from the heavens? After missing out on a ticket to the 2026 CONCACAF World Cup finals and being reduced to spectators at someone else's party, Chinese football is creating unprecedented hype.
NetEase, Inc. said on the 28th (Korea time), mentioning instability in the Middle East, "Iran's participation in the World Cup has become uncertain after attacks by the United States and Israel," and "if Iran is unable to participate due to U.S. visa refusals or disciplinary action by FIFA, according to the Asian qualifying rankings China could also get a chance," offering what is literally an "Andromeda-bound" analysis.
It is laughable when you examine the claims closely. They argue that if Iran is expelled and a spot opens up, the replacement should be chosen from the teams eliminated in Asian qualifying based on market value and FIFA ranking (by China's standard). In short, it's capitalist fantasy logic close to "FIFA will pick us because we make money."
But this is a comment that shows they don't even know the 'A' of football regulations. Even conceding a hundred times that Iran's spot might open up, FIFA's priority for deciding a replacement country would go to teams whose abilities are proven, like Iraq, the UAE, or Indonesia, who narrowly lost in the final playoff stage. China, which collapsed listlessly from the early stages of Asian qualifying, isn't even a consideration.
What makes this behavior by China even more ridiculed is the recent "humiliation" it suffered at the hands of the Spain national team. Recently the Chinese Football Association proposed a friendly to Spain, a World Cup favorite, but Spain said, "We want to play a team that is tactically similar to Saudi Arabia and stronger in strength," and chose Iraq as a partner instead of China.
At the time, Spanish media Marca reported, "Spain chose Iraq to prepare for Asian teams they will meet in the finals. China was not considered at all."
In other words, in the eyes of the world's best teams, China was branded as a "team not even suitable as a practice opponent," far below Iraq. Having been beaten by Iraq in the race for a friendly partner, and now even eyeing the "vacant spot of Iran" that should belong to Iraq, soccer fans worldwide can only snicker.
It is also hard to avoid criticism on humanitarian grounds. Iranian players are continuing heartbreaking training amid the fires of war, saying, "We will give hope to the people." Chinese media treating this tragic situation as a matter of "World Cup draw luck" and recklessly calculating with abacuses has been criticized as shameless and even inhumane.
The U.S. visa issue is also likely to go differently from China's hopes. Under the international convention separating sports and politics, special entry for teams is likely to be guaranteed. In the end, the "free ticket" China hopes for does not exist physically or under the rules.
If you lack ability you should at least keep your mouth shut, yet Chinese football keeps repeating pathetic struggles to cover up chronic lack of ability with "luck." The ball is round, but there has never been a miracle in World Cup history where the ball rolls by itself into the goal of an unskilled team.
This "happiness circuit" of Chinese football is nothing but a cowardly excuse to hide the dismal report card of failing to reach the finals. The global soccer community has delivered a cold rebuke to China's reality of expecting windfalls without effort, saying, "Football is played with the feet, not the mouth."
China's delusion of wanting to steal even Iran's vacant spot while watching the World Cup, which has become someone else's party, is ultimately a sad self-portrait proving how much it has been left behind on the Asian stage.
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