China's Wang Yudong (left) challenges Australia's Fran Karacic for the ball during their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification match at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium in Hangzhou on Tuesday.AFP

Again, it's time to do the math — and to give up any fantasy of a quick fix once and for all.

Similarly, yet inevitably, Team China again sees its qualifying hopes for the FIFA World Cup hanging by a thread, after a 2-0 home defeat to Australia on Tuesday pushed the underachieving squad to the brink of elimination from the Asian qualifying tournament.

Failing to pick up a single point from its past three matches against Japan, Saudi Arabia and Australia, Group C's top three teams, has kept China agonizingly at the bottom of the six-nation group, with only six points from eight matches in the current third-phase qualifying tournament.