Jakarta ¨C China¡¯s renewed confidence will face the ultimate test on Tuesday as Branko Ivankovic¡¯s side hosts Japan while looking to build on consecutive World Cup qualifying wins against the team that dished out a comprehensive 7-0 thrashing in September.

Victories over Indonesia and Bahrain have seen the Chinese overcome a run of three losses at the start of the third phase of Asian qualifying to rekindle dreams of a first World Cup appearance since their debut in 2002.

But the strength of China¡¯s recovery will be challenged when Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu leads the runaway Group C leader into Xiamen, which may dredge up painful memories of that seven-goal defeat at Saitama Stadium in September.

¡°This isn¡¯t an easy group,¡± Brankovic said after Zhang Yuning helped China earn a victory over Bahrain on Thursday.

¡°Japan, Australia and Saudi Arabia are perhaps one level higher, but we tried to compete against them.

¡°Bahrain and Indonesia can be seen as more our level, which is why if we want to fight for a top four spot in the group, we have to pick up as many points as possible in those games.¡±

Japan leads the chase for one of the group¡¯s two automatic berths into the World Cup as the schedule crosses the halfway point, with Moriyasu¡¯s team topping the group by seven points.

Australia, which travels to Bahrain, is in second place ahead of Saudi Arabia and China on goal difference, with Bahrain and Indonesia fifth and sixth.

Eight Asian nations are guaranteed to qualify for the World Cup, with the top two finishers in the three groups advancing while the third and fourth-place teams advance to another round.

South Korea will seek to continue its dominance of Group B when it travels to Amman to play Palestine after drawing with Makram Daboub¡¯s side in Seoul in September.

Hong Myung-bo¡¯s side was booed off the pitch at the end of that game but have won all four matches since then and leads Jordan and Iraq by five points in the group.

The Jordanians occupy second place on goal difference and travel to Kuwait while Oman hosts Iraq.

Iran meets Kyrgyzstan in Bishkek aiming to maintain its three-point lead in Group A, while second-placed Uzbekistan faces North Korea in Vientiane looking to bounce back from a last-gasp loss to Asian champion Qatar.

Tintin Marquez will hope Lucas Mendes¡¯ stoppage-time goal has revitalized his side as Qatar looks to claim back-to-back wins when it takes on the United Arab Emirates.