OFFICIAL: China plays World Cup qualifiers in Thailand

According to the 2022 World Cup qualifying schedule, China will host Maldives at home on March 26, and then travel to Guam Island on March 31.

However, neither of these matches will proceed as planned due to the complicated COVID-19 epidemic in China and visa-related issues.

"After negotiations with our partners from the Maldives, Guam Island and Thailand, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and FIFA have approved the proposal of two matches in the 2022 World Cup qualifying in Asia held in Buriram, Thailand, " CFA said.

"Due to the Thai government's requirement for local COVID-19 disease prevention, these two matches will be played without audience,” the Chinese football regulator said.

In the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, China was in Group A with Syria, Maldives, Philippines and Guam. China is currently in second place with 7 points after 4 matches, 8 points inferior to the top of Syria.

The Asia World Cup 2022 qualifying with 40 teams divided into 8 groups, each group of 5 teams competing in a round format. The top 8 teams in each group and the fourth best-performing teams will advance to the final round of the 2022 World Cup, while winning tickets to the Asian Cup 2023 finals held in China.