Saudi Arabia's 10 men fight back to beat China in World Cup qualifying

Dalian: China face a struggle to qualify for the 2026 World Cup as they followed their 7 0 drubbing in Japan last week with a 2 1 defeat against 10 ma...

Dalian: China face a struggle to qualify for the 2026 World Cup as they followed their 7-0 drubbing in Japan last week with a 2-1 defeat against 10-man Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

China went ahead in the 14th minute in Dalian through an Ali Lajami own goal but failed to take advantage of Saudi midfielder Mohamed Kanno being red-carded a few minutes later.

Hassan Kadish equalised with a header from a corner before half-time and repeated the feat in the last minute of the 90 to spark wild celebrations from the visitors.

China fought hard against a side ranked almost 30 places above them in FIFA's world rankings and had a goal disallowed, but they remain rooted to the bottom of Group C.

After Lajami deflected a corner into his own net off his shoulder, the 29-year-old Kanno needlessly kicked out at China's Jiang Shenglong after the referee had blown for a foul.