BEIJING, Sep. 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese national team announced a 24-player roster on Monday for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifiers against Australia and Indonesia, with injured captain Wu Lei listed.
Wu, who is the leading goalscorer in the Chinese Super League, was forced off the pitch in the league match last Saturday after his rib was injured.
His club Shanghai port revealed on Monday that "there is no obvious fracture in his ribs, but the pain in the injured area was severe. In addition, the player has been suffering a certain degree of breathing difficulty as well as his old knee injury."
In addition to the Chinese captain, naturalized player A Lan is also included in the roster despite he was missing the league match last Saturday due to thigh injury.
China is set to play against Australia away on October 10, and then meet with Indonesia on October 15 at home in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province.
The Chinese team now ranks bottom in the group after losing 7-0 to Japan and 2-1 to Saudi Arabia respectively in the first two rounds.
The 24-man roster is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Liu Dianzuo, Wang Dalei, Yan Junling;
Defenders: Gao Zhunyi, Han Pengfei, Jiang Guangtai, Jiang Shenglong, Li Lei, Liu Yang, Wei Zhen, Yang Zexiang;
Midfielders: Huang Zhengyu, Li Yuanyi, Wang Haijian, Wang Shangyuan, Xie Weneng, Xu Haoyang;
Forwards: A Lan, Behram Abduweli, Fei Nanduo, Lin Liangming, Wei Shihao, Wu Lei, Zhang Yuning. ■
