The 2026 US-Canada-Mexico World Cup Asian Qualifiers officially kicked off, and after the first two rounds of competition, the Asian giants all showed their king temperament, with Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia leading the group stage unsurprisingly, and qualification is in sight. However, the most surprising thing was the Chinese Taipei team, although they did not score in the first two rounds, they have invisibly become a dark horse that should not be underestimated.
Chinese Taipei's Group D has four relatively weak teams, including Malaysia, Kyrgyzstan, Oman and Chinese Taipei. Although these teams are of different levels, there is not much difference in overall strength, there are no obvious strong teams, and it is a veritable group of death, which also gives the Chinese Taipei team hope of qualifying.
As early as the end of the draw ceremony, many fans lamented that if the national team falls into this group, it will almost be equivalent to directly advancing to the next stage. However, the national team did not get their wish, but was placed in the same group as the strong rival South Korea, and the qualification situation is not clear.
Now, Malaysia are the leaders of the group after two consecutive wins in the group stage. In their opening match against Kyrgyzstan, they narrowly won the match 4-3. In this game, Malaysia were in a disadvantageous situation of being 1-3 down, but they showed amazing resilience and scored three goals in a row to eventually come back to win. If this game is the participation of the national football team, it is obviously unlikely that such a strong ** force will appear. In the second match against Chinese Taipei, despite only 52% possession, Malaysia finally had the last laugh 1-0 and maintained the winning streak.
As a result, Malaysia's prospects for promotion are bright at the moment. However, it is also important to admit that the rivalry between Chinese Taipei and Malaysia is very fierce, which also proves that Chinese Taipei is gradually getting better.
In this game, Chinese Taipei repeatedly threatened Malaysia's goal through counter-attacks, but unfortunately there was a fatal mistake in the 72nd minute, which led to Malaysia's goal, and ultimately lost regrettably. But with no strong opponents in this group and Chinese Taipei's getting better and better, they still have a chance to stand out in the next four matches.
Chinese Taipei football is developing very rapidly, and the Chinese Taipei Football Association is actively looking for naturalized reinforcement players, hoping to quickly improve the football strength of Chinese Taipei. If they manage to break through in the round of 36, they will once again write the history of Chinese Taipei football, which is a miracle for this small team. And for the players of the national team, it will undoubtedly be a great inspiration and motivation to see other teams in their home country perform so well. Chinese Taipei is on the rise, and no one can underestimate their strength and potential.