US Media: Xi Jinping's Three Football Dreams Unfulfilled, Chinese National Team Remains Stagnant

2026 FIFA World Cup Key News

Central News Agency Report

(Taipei, 17th) - Despite years of heavy investment, China's national men's football team has failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup since 2002, leaving many Chinese citizens disappointed. According to US media reports, the situation in Chinese football remains unchanged. The three 'football dreams' once proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping—qualifying for the World Cup, hosting it, and winning it—have not been achieved. Even with intensified anti-corruption campaigns and managerial changes, there has been no significant improvement in the team's performance.

On the other hand, Cape Verde, an island nation in Africa, delivered an outstanding performance in their opening match, holding traditional powerhouse Spain to a 0-0 draw. Starting from the 16th, Chinese media began widely reporting on the story 'Cape Verde thanks China for helping fulfill their World Cup dream,' claiming that a stadium built with Chinese aid and completed in 2013 enabled Cape Verde to qualify for the World Cup this year. However, some Chinese netizens mocked the coverage, questioning the media's motives.

The Wall Street Journal reported that China has a population of 1.4 billion and a leader who claims to be a football fan (referring to Xi Jinping). Since the 1990s, China has cumulatively invested billions of dollars into football. Yet, even with the World Cup expanding from 32 to 48 teams, China still failed to secure a spot, indicating that Chinese football remains fundamentally unchanged.

One Chinese netizen commented, 'We spent tens of millions of dollars just to watch 48 other countries play. Our own players might be on vacation—that's probably the most frustrating thing in the world of sports.' Another said, 'Now I can stay up late again, cheering for a country I don’t live in, while our national team sleeps peacefully.'

The report notes that China is still striving toward its goal of 'building a world-class football culture' and is not without achievements. For example, the Chinese women's team has achieved what the men's team has not—qualifying for the Women's World Cup eight times, nearly winning in 1999—sharply contrasting with the men's team's long-term underperformance.

Looking at Asian nations, nine teams (including Australia) have qualified for this tournament, including neighboring Japan and South Korea. These countries have built successful football systems by doing what China has not: heavily investing in youth development, allowing professional football to be driven by market competition rather than administrative orders, and actively sending top players to Europe for training. Japan, in particular, has grown into a true global football powerhouse.

China's absence is especially embarrassing given President Xi Jinping's public aspirations for football development. His three proposed 'football dreams'—World Cup qualification, hosting, and winning—remain unfulfilled. Despite billions of dollars in investment, anti-corruption efforts, and managerial changes, no clear improvement has been seen in the only thing that truly matters: on-field performance.

The report mentions that even Xi Jinping has made light of the men's team. During a 2025 inspection of a robotics company in Shanghai, he jokingly asked engineers, 'Can robots join the football team?' This joke resonated because Chinese fans are all too familiar with the gap between ambition and reality.

Under these circumstances, some Chinese citizens have creatively turned to supporting Ma Ning, the only Chinese referee at this World Cup. Ma Ning is the first Chinese referee to officiate at the World Cup in 24 years since 2002.

Additionally, Chinese media outlets unanimously ran headlines on the 16th such as 'Cape Verde thanks China for fulfilling World Cup dream,' which quickly rose to the top of trending news. The reports highlighted that Cape Verde's crucial qualifying match was held at a national stadium completed in 2013 with Chinese aid, filling the gap of 'lacking international-standard sports facilities.'

However, some Chinese netizens mocked the coverage. One said, 'Which of our stadiums wasn’t built by us? We’ve only qualified once (in 2002).'; another commented, 'Another case of 'spiritual participation'—do we have to latch onto this too?'; and others expressed that the hype only shows 'our own stadiums are less valuable than those we build abroad'—isn’t that embarrassing? (Edited by Qiu Guoqiang / Zhu Jianling) 1150617