Facing potential elimination with a defeat on Wednesday, Lebanon continue their Asian Cup campaign at Al Thumama Stadium with a midweek encounter against China.

Both sides failed to triumph in their opener, with the Cedars suffering a 3-0 defeat versus Qatar, while the Chinese had to settle for a 0-0 draw with Tajikistan.

Match preview

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The second stint for Miodrag Radulovic as Lebanese coach has not begun as well as he had hoped, with his side losing both of their matches this year and facing the prospect of potentially another early exit from this competition.

The Cedars have been outscored 4-0 in two competitive fixtures this year and could be eliminated from this tournament for a second successive campaign with a defeat and a draw or victory by the hosts Qatar versus Tajikistan.

Although it would be disappointing for them to exit this competition so soon, it would not be unusual, as the Lebanese have never progressed beyond an Asian Cup group stage, winning only one match in their two previous appearances (4-1 against North Korea in 2019).

In their seven Asian Cup fixtures, Lebanon have never scored the opening goal, conceding in every one of those encounters while failing to net on four occasions.

Their backs are up against the wall right now, but in recent times, they have been able to pick themselves back up quickly, failing to lose three successive matches since 2022 (four straight defeats from March to December that year).

To stay alive, they may have to defeat the Chinese for the first time in their history, claiming just one result in six prior meetings against them (0-0 draw in 2008), failing to score in five of those matches.

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It was a relatively poor opening match for the Chinese, who were stymied by a pesky group of Tajikistan players who had the bulk of the scoring opportunities in the opening half.

China only registered two efforts on target over 90 minutes, none in the opening half, coming to life after the interval thanks to some late substitutions.

The draw versus Tajikistan was the first time this team had failed to claim all three points in their opening Asian Cup fixture since playing to a 2-2 draw with Bahrain to begin the 2004 tournament.

Meanwhile, their result on Saturday was only the second time in their last eight Asian Cup group fixtures that they failed to find the back of the net, while China have not gone winless in consecutive group fixtures at this tournament since 1992 (1-1 draw with Saudi Arabia and 0-0 draw versus Thailand).

Facing the tournament hosts in their final group game, Aleksandar Jankovic will likely see this encounter as a must-win for his side in their quest to make it beyond the group stage of the Asian Cup for a third successive occasion.

Dragon's Team have triumphed in just one of their previous six meetings versus Asian opponents, defeating Thailand 2-1 in 2026 World Cup qualifying last November.

Team News

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Gabriel Bitar made just his fourth appearance for the Lebanon national team on matchday one, replacing Bassel Jradi, drawing even with Yahya El Hindi for the second-fewest caps among Lebanese players at this competition, one more than Khalil Khamis.

Mohamad Haidar is 10 caps shy of the century mark, while Hilal El-Helwe made his 51st international appearance on Friday, replacing record cap holder and record goalscorer Hassan Maatouk.

Maatouk is still seeking his second career goal at this competition after netting their final goal four years earlier, with El-Helwe notching a brace and the opener coming from George Felix Melki in a victory over North Korea, with the latter having to withdraw from this tournament because of an injury.

China captain Wu Xi sat out of their opening game due to a hamstring injury, while Tyias Browning, Wang Shangyuan, Tan Long and Wu Lei were the only players to maintain their place in the starting 11 from their friendly versus Hong Kong (2-1 defeat).

Lin Liangming is just two appearances away from double-digits for Dragon's Team, replacing Dai Wai Tsun on matchday one, while Liu Binbin can reach 20 should he see the field on Wednesday.

Yan Junling made two stops versus Tajikistan to preserve a clean sheet, while Zhu Chenjie had his second international goal ruled out by VAR after heading home a corner with fewer than 10 minutes remaining.

Lebanon possible starting lineup:
Matar; Melki, Mansour, El Zein; Zein, Tneich, Srour, Haidar; Kuri; Bitar, Maatouk

China possible starting lineup:
Junling; Linpeng, Browning, Chenjie, Yang; Pengfei, Shangyuan, Tsun, Binbin; Lei, Long

We say: Lebanon 0-1 China

Finding the back of the net in this competition has proven to be challenging for the Lebanese, who may still be feeling the frustration of their opening loss, knowing they had their chances to score.

The experience of China in these situations has us leaning towards them narrowly winning this match, despite their form being well below what we are used to seeing at this tournament.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Joel Lefevre

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