China has survived an almighty scare before scraping into next year’s Asian Cup. It was beaten 3 to 1 by Iraq in their last and crucial Group C match, but entered the finals on goal difference.
Iraq led China two to zero at half-time as forward Younis Mahmoud opened scoring on 23 minutes with a solo run, and tipped in a rebound in the 42nd minute. Ali Adnan enlarged the lead to three to zero on 59 minutes.
Then China pulled a goal back through a 72-minute penalty from substitute midfielder Zhang Xizhe, surviving as the best-performing third-placed team among five groups.