China Still Misses the World Cup

## China Still Misses the World Cup The 2026 FIFA World Cup had 48 teams, but China still did not qualify. FIFA is now thinking about increasing the tournament to 64 teams in 2030. One reason is that China has a huge number of football fans, which could bring more viewers and more money. China's men's national team has only qualified for the FIFA World Cup once, in 2002. They lost all three matches and did not score a single goal. Many Chinese fans often joke online that even if the World Cup has more teams, China may still not qualify. Professor Xu Gouqi from the University of Hong Kong says criticizing the men's football team is one of the few topics people can discuss freely on Chinese social media. Chinese President Xi Jinping has said he wants China to become a football powerhouse and hopes the men's team can win the World Cup by 2050. However, the team has struggled in recent years. During the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, China lost 7-0 to Japan. The team also lost to Indonesia and drew with Singapore. None of those countries reached the World Cup. Today, no Chinese men's player is playing in the top football leagues in Europe. Football experts say there are several reasons for China's poor results. These include corruption, poor management, and not enough young people playing football. In many countries, children play football for fun from a young age. In China, many parents prefer their children to focus on school because they believe it offers a better future. Even with these challenges, Professor Xu believes China can become a strong football nation in the future. He says China has millions of passionate football fans and believes the country could build a winning team over time. He also suggests that China could attract talented young players with Chinese backgrounds who were born or raised in other countries. He points to Olympic champion Eileen Gu, who was born in the United States but represents China in international competition, as an example of this approach.