On September 5th, the first round of the third stage of the 2026 World Cup Asian qualifiers for Group C kicked off, with the national team traveling to Saitama Stadium 2002 to challenge Japan. The starting lineup was announced before the match, as follows:
China’s starting lineup: 14-Wang Dalei; 2-Jiang Guangtai; 19-Liu Yang; 15-Yang Zexiang; 5-Zhu Chenjie; 16-Jiang Shenglong; 21-Li Yuanyi; 10-Xu Haoyang; 20-Xie Wenjun; 7-Wu Lei; 9-Zhang Yuning
Substitutes: 1-Yan Junling; 12-Liu Dianzuo; 3-Gao Zhunyi; 4-Li Lei; 18-Han Pengfei; 8-Wei Zhen; 6-Wang Shangyuan; 13-Wang Haijian; 22-Alan; 17-Fei Nando; 11-Lin Liangming; 23-Bai Helamu;
Japan’s starting lineup: 1-Suzuki Ayane; 3-Tanioka Akira; 16-Machida Takaki; 4-Itakura Ko; 6-Endo Hikaru; 8-Minamino Takumi; 10-Doi Junya; 5-Kameda Eiji; 7-Kaoru Mitoma; 20-Takefusa Kubo; 9-Ueda Kiyotaka
Substitutes: 12-Osako Keisuke; 23-Tani Yasuharu; 22-Nakayama Yuta; 2-Sugawara Yosuke; 21-Takai Koudai; 14-Edo Junya; 15-Kamada Daichi; 17-Tanaka Ao; 13-Nakamura Kenta; 18-Asano Takuma; 19-Ogawa Koki; 11-Maeda Daizen