China's hopes of directly qualifying for the 2026 World Cup took a hit after suffering a 2-0 defeat against Australia on Tuesday night.

Jackson Irvine scored a brilliant curling shot to open the scoring for the Aussies in the 16th minute.

An error by China’s goalkeeper Wang Dalei shocked the home crowds at Hangzhou Sports Park Stadium 13 minutes later, as he let a weak shot by Nishan Velupillay slip through his fingers.

China made four changes after the break and threw bodies forward in search of a goal but those efforts were in vain.

With the loss, the national team stayed at the bottom of the group of six, seven points behind second place Australia with two matches remaining.

Only the top two teams of the group directly qualify for the World Cup.

China now needs to fight for a fourth-place finish in the group to move on to the fourth qualifying round.

Their two remaining group matches are against Indonesia and Bahrain.