The final match of the top 18 of the national football team is also a farewell game for veterans, and the Football Association will enter the coach selection mode

Reporter Chen Yong reports At 7 p.m. on June 10, the national football team will usher in the final match of the round of 18 with Bahrain at Chongqing Longxing Football Stadium. For the two teams that have already confirmed that they will not qualify, the few meanings of this game, except for the FIFA technical points, are nothing more than who can say goodbye in the final game with dignity. This is also the last possible game of the national football captain Wang Dalei in his nearly 20-year national team career, and a group of veteran players, including him, are likely to bid farewell to the national football team after the top 18 matches of this year. Only Ivan avoided the topic of the "final battle", and although the East Asian Cup was less than a month away, I am afraid that no one wanted to see him stay until that time.

After losing 0-1 to Indonesia, the national football team has already lost the qualification for the 2026 World Cup, so this match between the national football team and Bahrain has become the last match of the national football team in the round of 18 and the last game of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

Although the result of the game is no longer meaningful for this World Preliminary Tournament, for the national football team, which has fallen to 99th in the FIFA ranking after losing to Indonesia in the last round, it is still the goal to go all out. "From the national team's point of view, there is no game that is not important, and we want to say goodbye to the World Cup qualifiers by winning one game and send it to our fans, who have given us tremendous support and strong love," Ivankovic said. ”

In a practical sense, for the national football team, which has not had an official competition for a long time since then, the FIFA technical score gains and losses in this round of 18 are likely to affect the draw and division of the 2027 Asian Cup.

The situation of the national football team is mixed: Xie Wenneng and Lin Liangming, two frontcourt players, returned from suspension, but Wei Shihao and Cao Yongjing, two frontcourt players, also failed to participate in the game, the former was suspended due to accumulating yellow cards, and the latter suffered a shoulder injury. In fact, the big loss is still in the backfield, Hu Hetao's ligament injury, Zhu Chenjie's muscle problems, all missed the game, and the other defenders also had some problems in the game against Indonesia, so the defense line is the core problem facing the national football team.

In the Ivankovic era, the national football team had about two weeks of training camps, and there was also a seamless connection with the league, and the previous two victories came precisely when they were seamless. Regarding the pros and cons of these two methods, Ivankovic said: "In terms of training time, any coach wants to have a longer training camp to build a better team. The biggest problem now is that the players are in a different situation at the club and some players are playing less. ”

"It's been 20 years since I first joined the national team in 2006, and I've learned a lot from coaches, seniors and teammates, but I don't seem to have succeeded. It's been a year or so, and it's time to see my last World Cup qualifier, and probably my last World Cup qualifier. Wang Dalei, the captain of the national football team who attended the pre-match press conference with Ivankovic, was deeply touched, and for the 36-year-old, this game may even be the curtain call of his nearly 20-year national team career.

"Hopefully, at this last time, we can leave something useful for the young players, and I hope they pass on the spirit of togetherness, because everyone feels that this is the most united national team, and everyone has worked hard and sacrificed. Hopefully, when we leave, we take all the bad stuff with us and leave only the things that are useful for the national team and helpful for the young players. ”

In fact, not only Wang Dalei, but also players in the 91/92 and 93/94 age groups are likely to bid farewell to the national team after the top 18 matches, and even the 95/96 age group players will not stay too much - just like this World Preliminaries, there are no players in the 89-year-old group other than the goalkeeper, and there are only Wu Lei and Li Lei in the 91/92 age group.

So, will this match between the national football team and Bahrain be Ivankovic's last game in the national football team? When the reporter threw this question to Ivan at the press conference, Ivan did not give a positive answer: "We are now preparing for this game with all our might, as for whether it is my last game, we will make a comprehensive analysis and summary after this match, and the Football Association will make a decision at that time." ”

With the national football team missing the 2026 World Cup, this match against Bahrain is theoretically his last game, and the national football team will then enter the coach selection mode. However, it is difficult to complete the selection of the coach of the national football team within a month, and in this case, it is difficult for the national football team to usher in a new official coach for the East Asian Cup that began in early July, so it is inevitable that a coach will lead the team to participate in the East Asian Cup. At present, the Chinese Football Association also has a number of plans, including looking for an acting head coach from the existing national brand system.

As for the composition of the team, it will definitely be dominated by young players, and it is likely that it will be dominated by post-00 players, that is, the existing national team players in the 99/00 and 01/02 age groups, plus the players of the U22 national team (03 age group and beyond).