Powerhouse team China PR pulverized lowly squad Bhutan, 12-0, in the second round of group stage classifications in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying tournament held at the Helong Stadium in Changsha on Thursday.

The win kept the Chinese national squad's Russia World Cup bid alive as they stayed at the no. 3 spot in the Group C table with a 3-1-1 win-loss-draw slate behind group leader Qatar (5-0-0) and neighboring rival Hong Kong (4-1-1), who both had already played one game more than Team Dragon.

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China's remaining games are against Hong Kong on Tuesday and versus Maldives and Qatar in March next year. If Alain Perrin's squad could sweep their remaining three games, then they will have an automatic slot to the third round of qualifications.

China Daily reported that Team Dragon "hammered an entirely amateur Bhutan" side with Shandong Luneng striker Yang Xu scoring four times while three other teammates had doubles during the match.

Beijing Guoan forward Yu Dabao, Guangzhou Evergrande winger Yu Hanchao, and Shandong teammate Wang Yongpo all had braces sandwiched in Evergrande defender Mei Fang's opening goal and Guoan midfielder Zhang Xizhe's last goal of the game.

It was all out China as the Druk Eleven are noticeable slower and less skilled than their counterparts.

However, Asia Times noted that "the future for China, despite this victory, remains uncertain" as they have to beat rivals Hong Kong and Qatar in future games to ensure that they will qualify in the next phase of competitions en route to an appearance in the World Cup in 2018.

In the current tournament set-up, only the top team of each group and the four best runners-up will advance to the final round of the qualifiers.

The 12 teams that will advance will then compete for the four spots allocated to AFC in the 2018 Russia World Cup.

TagsFootball, Football 2015, Football News 2015, AFC 2018 World Cup qualifers, 2018 Russia World Cup, China national football team, Bhutan national football team, Bhutan, China vs Bhutan, AFC 2018 World Cup qualifers second round, AFC 2018 World Cup qualifers second round group stage