世预赛 中国男足客场0:0平中国香港

We begin with football and Asian zone qualifying for the 2018 World Cup as China were facing Hong Kong. The close match would be marred by an apparent goal for China side that goes unrecognized late in the match and the resulting draw all but ends their hopes of advancing out of the group stage.

China came into the match with 10 points, three behind second placed Hong Kong and have plenty of chances in the first half.

Yang Xu threatens with a header. But the ball hits the woodwork and bounces back.

Jaimes McKee does the same for Hong Kong as his header is also denied by the crossbar.

Huang Bowen has a quality long-range effort just before the break. But the Guangzhou Evergrande midfielder can't beat the post.

The controversial moment comes in the 77th. Yu Dabao takes two shots in quick succession, and his second one seems to go in. From the replay you can see the ball looks to be over the goal-line, but the referee somehow ignores it and the game remains scoreless.

Both teams fail to break the deadlock and the match finishes a disappointing 0-0, which leaves China with little chance of making the next round.

Unfortunately, China are unlikely to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Qatar have already made the next round of the Asian qualifiers after winning all six matches in Group C. Hong Kong are second with 14 points, while China are third with 11.

China have two games left. They will battle against the Maldives on March 24th and just five days later they will face Qatar.

Here's a look at the best second placed teams right now. With Indonesia disqualified from Group F, other teams' records against the bottom sides of the group will be deducted. China's six points against Bhutan are meaningless in the comparison, and they only have five points from four other games. China must take over Hong Kong as for second if they want to keep their chances alive. The top four second placed countries will be given a berth in the next round. But even so, China, who are third in Group C now, have little hope of reaching the last 12, because they would be low in the list of the best second placed teams.