The political unrest of theXinhai Revolution that mired China's participation in the first tournament, especially in renaming the team as Republic of China national football team, did not stopShanghai being awarded the1915 Far Eastern Championship Games. Once again South China Football Club, now known as South China Athletic Association won the right to represent the nation. This time in a two legged play-off against the Philippines, China won the first game 1–0 and then drew the second 0–0 to win their first ever tournament.[6] With the games being the first and only regional football tournament for national teams outsideBritain, China looked to establish themselves as a regional powerhouse by winning a total of nine championships.[7]
On 7 July 1937 theSecond Sino-Japanese War officially erupted, which saw the relations between China and Japan completely eroded especially once it was announced that Japan would hold the1938 Far Eastern Championship Games.[10] The tournament would be officially cancelled while Japan held their own tournament called the2600th Anniversary Celebrations of the Japanese Empire, which included the Japanese puppet statesManchukuo and the collaborationistNational Reorganised Government of China based in occupiedNanjing. But none of the top Chinese players competed in the Japanese Empire anniversary games.[11] None of the games during the Second Sino-Japanese War are officially recognized and once the war ended on 9 September 1945 China looked to the Olympics once again for international recognition. On 2 August 1948 China competed in theFootball at the 1948 Summer Olympics where they were once again knocked out in the last sixteen, this time byTurkey national football team in a 4–0 defeat.[12] When the players returned they found the country in the midst of theChinese Civil War. When it ended, the team had been split into two, one called the People's Republic of China national football team and the other called Republic of China national football team (later renamedChinese Taipei national football team).[13]
The newly instatedPeople's Republic of China reformed CFA before having FIFA acknowledge their 1931 membership on 14 June 1952.[14]Finland, who were one of the first nations to hold diplomatic relations with China's new government, invited the country to take part in the1952 Summer Olympics.Li Fenglou would become the country's first permanent manager to lead them in the tournament, however the Chinese delegation was delayed and they missed the entire competition, nevertheless theFinland national football team would still greet Li and the Chinese team with a friendly game on 4 August 1952 making it People's Republic of China's official first game, which ended in a 4–0 defeat.[15][16] In preparation for entering their first FIFA competition, China sent a young squad to train in Hungary in 1954.[17] However, when they entered the1958 FIFA World Cup qualification process China were knocked out byIndonesia.[18]
On 7 June 1958, China stopped participating within any FIFA recognised football events when FIFA officially started to recognise the Republic of China as a different country.[14] This sparked a diplomatic argument that had already seen China withdraw from the1956 Summer Olympics for the same reasons.[19] For years the People's Republic of China would only play in friendlies with nations who recognized them as the sole heir to the China name.[18] On 25 October 1971 theUnited Nations would recognise the People's Republic country as the sole heir to the China name in theirGeneral Assembly Resolution 2758 act.[20][21][22] Due to this hearing in 1973, the Nationalist Chinese team, which had been using the name "Republic of China", would stop using that name and would eventually rename themselves as "Chinese Taipei" in 1980.[23] These acts would see China rejoin the international sporting community, first by becoming a member of theAsian Football Confederation in 1974 and by rejoining FIFA again in 1979.[24][25]
Chinese players in a match against Saudi Arabia at the1984 AFC Asian Cup
In 1980, China participated in the1982 FIFA World Cup qualifiers for a berth in the1982 World Cup, but they lost a play-off game againstNew Zealand.[27] During the1986 FIFA World Cup qualifiers for the1986 World Cup, China facedHong Kong at home in the final match of the first qualifying round on 19 May 1985 where China only needed a draw to advance. However, Hong Kong produced a2–1 upset win which resulted in riots inside and outside the stadium in Beijing.[28] During the1990 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, China again reached the final round. They just missed out on qualifying as they conceded two goals in the final three minutes againstQatar in their final group match.[29] During the1994 FIFA World Cup qualifiers – when they were led by their first-ever foreign manager,Klaus Schlapner – China failed to reach the final round of qualifying, coming second behindIraq.[30]
After failing to reach the1998 FIFA World Cup, China appointed Serbian managerBora Milutinović as coach of the national team, and China saw its fortune increased. The country managed to take fourth-place finish in the2000 AFC Asian Cup where the Chinese side performed well, and only fell to heavyweights Japan and South Korea by one goal margin.[33] The good performance in Lebanon boosted the confidence of Chinese side, and in2002 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, China lost only one and drew only one, winning all the remaining games, most notably an important 1–0 win overOman, to finally reach the2002 FIFA World Cup, its first and only World Cup up to date.[34] In the 2002 World Cup, China was eliminated after three matches without gaining a single point nor even scoring a goal during their participation in the tournament.[35]
China hosted the2004 AFC Asian Cup, ultimately fell 1–3 to Japan in a final match. The match's outcome sparked anger among Chinese supporters, who rioted in response to bad refereeing.[36] There were an estimated 250 million viewers for the match, the largest single-event sports audience in the country's history at that time.[37]
After winning the2005 East Asian Football Championship following a 2–0 win againstNorth Korea,[38] they started qualification for the2007 AFC Asian Cup. During this time, the team became the subject of immense criticism and national embarrassment in the media when they had managed to score only one goal,Shao Jiayi's penalty kick during injury time, againstSingapore at home and only managed a draw with Singapore in the away game. During preparations for the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, the team spent the weeks leading up to the tournament on a tour of the United States. While the 4–1 loss to theUnited States was unexpected,[39] a 1–0 loss toMajor League Soccer sideReal Salt Lake which finished bottom of the league in the 2007 season caused serious concern.[40][41]
During the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, the team played three group matches, winning againstMalaysia, drawing withIran after leading 2–1, and losing 3–0 toUzbekistan. After high expectations, China's performance at the tournament drew criticism online which condemned the team's members and even the association. Zhu was later replaced as manager byVladimir Petrović after these performances.[42] Some commented that China's reliance on foreign managers for the past decade had been an indicator of its poor domestic manager development.[43]
In April 2009, China appointedGao Hongbo as the new manager, replacingYin Tiesheng. His arrival saw China opt for a new strategy, turning towards ground passing tactics and adopting the 4–2–3–1 formation. It was noted that Chinese footballers had relied too heavily on the long ball tactic for almost a decade. Wei Di, the chief of theChinese Football Association, stressed that, "Anytime, no matter win or loss, they must show their team spirit and courage. I hope, after one year's effort, the national team can give the public a new image."[44] Gao was knocked out of the2011 AFC Asian Cup's group stage. His winning percentage (65%), the highest for a Chinese manager sinceNian Weisi (67.86%), did not defer the Chinese Football Association from replacing him withJosé Antonio Camacho in August 2011, less than a month before the qualification process for the2014 FIFA World Cup.
On 13 August 2011,José Antonio Camacho was appointed as the new manager of the team, signing a three-year deal for a reported annual salary of $8 million.[45] Wei Di, CFA chief, explained the decision as being part of a long-term plan to help the country catch up with rivalsJapan andSouth Korea. He noted that, "Compared with their neighbours Japan and South Korea, Chinese football is lagging far behind, we need to work with a long-term view and start to catch up with a pragmatic approach. The citizens expects heavily for China to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup held in Brazil. They are afraid that changing the coach at the last moment may cause bad effect to the team's qualifying prospect. I can totally understand that. But we do not have any time to waste."[46]
Yu Hongchen, the vice-president of the Chinese Football Administrative Centre, also stated, "The qualifying stage of 2014 World Cup is just a temporary task for him. Even if the task is failed, Camacho will not lose the job. When we started to find a new coach for the national team, we mainly focus on European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. First of all, they have advanced football concepts, and secondly they have a productive youth training system, which we can learn from. We hope he can help us to find a suitable style."[46]
Camacho managed the team to an 8–0 lost againstBrazil in a friendly match on 10 September 2012 which would go on record as China's biggest ever international defeat. This massive loss also succumbed China to their worst ever FIFA ranking (109th).[47]
Camacho then led China during their qualification process for the2015 AFC Asian Cup whereby losing the first group match 2–1 toSaudi Arabia.[48] After a 5–1 lost againstThailand in a friendly match, Camacho was sacked a week later and withFu Bo assigned as the caretaker. In light of continued struggles, in 2015,General Secretary of the Chinese Communist PartyXi Jinping expressed the goal of having China's men's national team be the top team in Asia by 2030 and the following year China revealed its ambitious blueprint to be the best in the world by 2050.[49]
After Camacho, there wasAlain Perrin, who finally led China to qualify for the2015 AFC Asian Cup, which also included luck from the Thailand–Lebanon encounter, in which Thailand lost but salvaged an important goal byAdisak Kraisorn to help improve China's goal difference with the Lebanese.[50] Soon after that, Perrin led China into a series of friendlies, where some positive results againstMacedonia,Kuwait,Paraguay and Thailand boosted some optimism.
In the2015 AFC Asian Cup, Perrin's China was placed in a group with Saudi Arabia,Uzbekistan andNorth Korea. China emerged victoriously in all three games, qualified for the knockout stage for the first time since the 2004 edition.[51][52] The Chinese Dragons then lost to host Australia 0–2 withTim Cahill scoring a brace.[53]
Despite this, China's2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers immediately represented a huge problem for the Chinese side; they were held goalless by Hong Kong at home twice, and lost to Qatar. Perrin was sacked for the team's poor performance at themiddle of the second round following another goalless draw to Hong Kong,[54] and former coachGao Hongbo returned to the role on 3 February 2016, where he had to face a task of guiding China in at the expense of North Korea which had a better second-place ranking than China. Gao's first two matches were consecutive wins against Maldives and Qatar, and with North Korea suddenly slipping out against the Philippines, these results secured the team's passage to the2019 AFC Asian Cup and enteringthe final qualifying stage for the World Cup.
China continued their World Cup hunt by a 2–3 defeat to South Korea;[55] and a goalless draw to AFC's then highest ranked Iran at home.[56] However, China followed that with a 0–1 loss at home to Syria and 0–2 away to Uzbekistan next month. Gao Hongbo resigned. His team had been winless in the first four matches of the final qualifying stage for the World Cup, including a home loss to Syria which was criticised by a number of fans.[57]
Chinese players after win against Thailand at2019 AFC Asian Cup Round of 16
On 22 October 2016,Marcello Lippi was appointed manager of the team ahead for the last remaining matches.[58] A match saw China defeat South Korea for the first time in a FIFA-sanctioned tournament, amidst the heat of tensions over South Korea's deployment ofTHAAD.[59] However, China's away loss to Iran and a 2–2 draw to Syria meant China was unable to compete with and dragged behind by Syria who managed a 2–2 draw with Iran and not to be qualified for the 2018 World Cup under Lippi's tenure, but improvements could be seen following two late wins over Uzbekistan and Qatar.[60]
Ai Kesen played his first game for the national football team of China in 2019
Lippi led the side during the final stage of the2019 AFC Asian Cup, where China won 2–1 toKyrgyzstan and 3–0 toPhilippines, before losing 2–0 to group leadersSouth Korea on 16 January.[61] China then beatThailand 2–1 to earn a place in the quarter-finals, where it was knocked 3–0 out byIran; Lippi subsequently confirmed his departure from the team.[62]
Lacking options when it came to searching for a new coach, CFA re-appointed Marcello Lippi.[64] To improve the team, China had begun a series ofnaturalization on foreign-based players, withNico Yennaris, an English-born Cypriot,[65] andTyias Browning, another English-born player, being naturalized.[66] Subsequently,Elkeson, a Brazilian player with no Chinese ancestry, was naturalized.[67] Despite the process of naturalization, the2022 FIFA World Cup qualification for China proved to be rockier than expected, the team could only beat theMaldives andGuam, before being held goalless in thePhilippines and followed with a denting 1–2 away lost toSyria, and Lippi resigned as coach.[68]
2002 FIFA World Cup aceLi Tie was appointed as China's head coach on 2 January 2020.[69] Trailing behindSyria by five points before Li took charge, China were still unable to reclaim their first place but nonetheless managed to win all of their remaining fixtures, including an important 2–0 win over thePhilippines and notably a 3–1 win over Syria to guarantee them as the best second-placed team, thus reaching thethird round.[70][71]
In the third round, China shared Group B with Asian powerhouses Japan, Australia and Saudi Arabia, alongside Oman andVietnam. The Chinese started poorly with two losses to Australia and Japan inDoha due to theCOVID-19 pandemic at home preventing the country from hosting.[72][73] After this poor start, China salvaged five points in the next four matches, including a hard-fought 3–2 win over Vietnam and two 1–1 draws to Oman and especially Australia, all occurring inSharjah, the UAE.[74][75] However, despite these improvements, Li Tie was sacked on 2 December 2021 amidst heavy criticism.[76]
After Li Tie's resignation, his World Cup teammateLi Xiaopeng took the head coach position with immense pressure.[77] China's first game under Li Xiaopeng, however, was a 0–2 away loss to Japan inSaitama, effectively ending China's hopes of finishing in the top two and could only rely on the play-offs.[78] Yet, on 1 February 2022, coinciding with the traditionalLunar New Year, the Chinese stumbled to ashock 1–3 loss to Vietnam inHanoi, officially extending China's hunt for a second World Cup appearance to 24 years.[79] This defeat, the first in Chinese football history to Vietnam, triggered widespread anger and criticism amongst Chinese fans.[80] With their World Cup hopes lost, China grabbed a solitary point coming from a 1–1 draw with the Saudis before losing to Oman 0–2 in Muscat, finishing fifth with two more points than Vietnam.
After poor forms in the2022 FIFA World Cup qualifications, China took part in the2022 EAFF E-1 Football Championship under interim managerAleksandar Janković. With the leadership of Janković, China won four points, finishing third after a 1–0 win overHong Kong, though for the first time in 12 years, China did not lose to Japan away.[81] Because of this result Janković was named the permanent coach of the China national team in 2023, with the aim to guide China to qualify for the2026 FIFA World Cup.[82]
On 1 January 2024, China suffered a 1–2 defeat to Hong Kong in an international friendly, marking their first loss in 39 years.[83] Later, for the first time ever, China could not score in three consecutive matches at the AFC Asian Cup as they fell to third with only two points and later eliminated. This result and poor performance of the side triggered outrage in China, and Aleksandar Janković would lose the job on 31 January 2024.
On 25 February 2024,Branko Ivanković succeeded Janković as China's new coach.[84] Under his tenure, China only managed to reach thethird round of the World Cup qualification by the slimmest margin, thanks to China's superior head-to-head record against Thailand after both teams were equal on points, goals scored and goal difference.[citation needed] In the first match of the third round, China suffered a heavy 7–0 defeat to Japan. Ivanković was sacked by the CFA on 27 June 2025 , after the team's elimination from the qualifiers, finishing fifth[85] with a goal difference of –13, the lowest in the round tied by Kuwait.[86]
After failing to qualify for the 2026 World Cup,Dejan Đurđević took place as the caretaker manager of the national team. The team participated in the2025 EAFF E-1 Football Championship, where they finished in third place after losing 0–3 to South Korea and 0–2 to Japan.[85][87]
China's home kit is traditionally all-red with a white or yellow trim while their away kit is traditionally an inverted version of the home kit, fully white with a red trim. During the1996 AFC Asian Cup, China employed a third kit which was all blue with a white trim and was used againstSaudi Arabia during the tournament.[90] The 2022–24 season marks the first time the team had a turquoise blue secondary kit, replace the white kit worn in previous seasons. The team has also started to use cooling vests in certain warmer climates.[91] After decades of havingAdidas producing the team's kits, China's current kit has been produced and manufactured byNike since 2015.
Traditionally, China's greatest rival has beenJapan. This rivalry was exemplified after their 3–1 defeat in the2004 AFC Asian Cup Final on home soil.[94] The subsequent rioting by Chinese fans at theWorkers' Stadium was said to be provoked by controversial officiating during the tournament and the heightenedanti-Japanese sentiment at the time.
Another rivalry is with neighbourSouth Korea who China played 27 matches against between 1978 and 2010, without winning a single match. The media coined the term "Koreaphobia" to describe this phenomenon, but China finally registered its first win against South Korea on 10 February 2010, winning 3–0 during the2010 East Asian Football Championship and eventually going on to win the tournament. Traced further, China met South Korea (then known as Korea) for the first time in 1949 in a friendly inBritish Hong Kong, where China clinched the first and only win over Korea in 61 years.[95] There is also another political dimension behind the fuelling of this rivalry, mostly because of the longhistory of wars between the two states.[96][97]
A rivalry withHong Kong has been created due topolitical tensions as well as issues during2018 World Cup qualification. With Hong Kong fans booing the Chinese national anthem, which Hong Kong share with China, 2018 World Cup qualifier matches were also very tense with both matches resulting in 0–0 draws.
INJ Withdrew due to injury PRE Preliminary squad RET Retired from the national team SUS Serving suspension WD Withdrew due to non-injury related reasons
China has only appeared at one World Cup with the appearance being in the2002 FIFA World Cup where they finished bottom of the group which included a 4–0 loss toBrazil.[103]
^Guoth, Nick (6 April 2012). "Association Football, China". In Nauright, John; Parrish, Charles (eds.).Sports around the World [4 volumes]: History, Culture, and Practice. ABC-CLIO. p. 190.ISBN978-1598843002.
