SHENZHEN has submitted its bid to host a home game between China’s national soccer team and Hong Kong in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier, the city’s soccer management center confirmed Tuesday.

    China is in Group C with Qatar, the Maldives, Bhutan and China’s Hong Kong.

    According to the draw, China will host the Hong Kong side Sept. 3, Bhutan on Nov. 12, the Maldives on March 24, 2016 and Qatar on March 29, 2016.

    The city is among 11 cities that are fighting to host four home qualifiers for the World Cup, Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday.

    They are Beijing, Xi’an, Nanjing, Changsha, Wuhan, Shenyang, Dalian, Qingdao, Chengdu and Baotou.

    Beijing, Xi’an, Wuhan and Changsha, the four cities that have hosted most of the games in China in recent years, are favored for the hosting rights, Xinhua said. Xi’an is bidding to host all four games while Beijing aims for the game against Qatar.

    Shenzhen still has a big chance to win the bid, given its pleasant climate and up-to-standard soccer fields, Li Shaohui, head of the city’s soccer management center, told media Tuesday.

    Both of its two major stadiums — Bao’an Stadium and Longgang Universiade Center — can accommodate more than 40,000 spectators, according to Li. If Shenzhen wins the bid, Bao’an would be the first candidate, he said.

    Compared to other bidding cities, Shenzhen is closer to the Maldives in distance and climate, which will host a second game against China on Sept. 8, five days after China’s home game. Nearly two-thirds of the Chinese national soccer team come from the Evergrande and R&F clubs of Guangzhou, which neighbors Shenzhen.

    The winning cities will be announced in the middle of this month.

    The 2018 FIFA World Cup will be the 21st FIFA World Cup, which is scheduled to take place between June 14 and July 15, 2018 in Russia. This will be the first World Cup held in the area of the former Soviet Union and the first since 2006 to be held in Europe.

    The finals tournament will involve 32 national teams, including that of the host nation, assuming the current format of the finals is maintained. The final game is expected to take place in Moscow at the Luzhniki Stadium.(Mu Zi)