The 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico will be expanded to 48 teams, creating a greater chance for the Chinese men's football team to enter the World Cup. However, the Chinese men's football team has not been able to enter the main tournament of the World Cup for many years, and the recent warm-up performance has not been satisfactory. Facing the second-rate Asian team Uzbekistan, the Chinese men's football team failed to win. Even if the Football Association is reshuffled, the new leadership team will face great challenges, but they will do their best to improve the strength of Chinese football and allow the national football team to participate in the World Cup again.
The Chinese men's football team has not been able to enter the World Cup after 22 years, but the expansion in 2026 has given the Chinese men's football team more hope. However, the recent warm-up performances have not been ideal. Facing the 10th ranked Uzbekistan team in Asia, the Chinese men's football team could only lose, which also made many fans not optimistic about the prospects of the national football team. Even if the Football Association is re-elected, the new leadership team will need to face a huge challenge to improve the strength of Chinese football and allow the national football team to participate in the World Cup again. Both the history and current situation of the Chinese men's football team have exposed the challenges facing Chinese football.
The Chinese men's football team has not entered the main match of the World Cup since 2001. The recent warm-up match performance was also not satisfactory, and the team failed to win against the second-tier Asian team Uzbekistan. In addition, the Chinese women's football team also suffered a heavy defeat in the Olympic qualifiers, which made the challenge of Chinese football even more obvious. Although the new leadership of the Football Association hopes that the Chinese men's football team can play well in the 2026 World Cup, they need to put in more efforts in the face of the current difficulties. Jiang Guangtai and Li Ke are two naturalized players selected for the Chinese men's football team.
Although Ackerson was dropped to be selected in the 24-man squad for the World Cup, his appearance still proves the need for foreign aid in Chinese football. However, in terms of the number of naturalized players, the new leadership team seems to have restrained, and only two naturalized players who are related by blood have been selected. This is a positive sign that Chinese football has begun to focus on internal training, rather than blindly relying on foreign aid. This is also a necessary condition for Chinese football to succeed in the future. The new FA leadership team will need to recognise the challenges they face and develop a plan to achieve their goals.
Chinese football needs to be comprehensively reformed, including football training, fan education, event management and other aspects. Chinese football needs to strengthen its competitiveness and improve its strength in order to achieve better results in competitions such as the World Cup. Chinese football needs to adopt a long-term education strategy to fundamentally improve the national sports level, so that more people can participate in football. In short, the Chinese men's football team has a better chance of participating in the 2026 World Cup, but they still need to face various difficulties and challenges. The new leadership of the Football Association needs to make more efforts to take measures to improve the strength of the national football team.
Chinese football needs to carry out comprehensive reforms, cultivate more football talents, and improve its competitiveness. We need to believe that through continuous efforts and reforms, Chinese football will be able to make greater progress and development in the future. After the 24-man squad for the Chinese men's football world preliminaries was released, the Korean media published some cynical comments, believing that the Chinese team only deserved to compete with Thailand for the second place in the group, because there was no star in the 24-man list. However, Thailand, South Korea and Singapore, which are in the same group, are not ranked as good in the world as the Chinese team, and the Chinese team has a very good chance of getting points.
For the Chinese team, the first match against the Thai team is very crucial, and they must win this game to have a chance to advance to the next round. So, how should the Chinese team respond to the challenge of the Thai team? First of all, the Chinese team needs to avoid getting into the rhythm of the Thai team. After all, Thailand are very good at possession and passing, and if China are forced to spend the entire game defensively, it will be difficult to play on the offensive end. Therefore, the Chinese team needs to find its own rhythm in the game and control the rhythm of the game and the situation on the field as much as possible. Secondly, the Chinese team can use their experience and height advantage.
Many of the core players of the Chinese team are veterans, who have accumulated a wealth of experience in international competitions and are able to remain calm and sober in the game. In addition, the Chinese players are generally taller, which can be used to play more lobs on the offensive end, create a threat and set the pace of the game. However, the Chinese team also needs to be wary of the Thai team's counterattack. Although Thailand are ranked lower in the world, they have also had good performances in competitions such as the Asian Cup, especially in counter-attacking and speed.
Therefore, the Chinese team should also pay attention to the counterattack of the Thai team when attacking, and reduce the probability of mistakes and conceding goals as much as possible. In short, the Chinese team's first match against the Thai team is very crucial, and we must go all out to win this game. Although the core players of the Chinese team are older, they have advantages in terms of experience and height, and as long as they can play their own characteristics in the game, it is not impossible to win three points. Finally, I hope that the Chinese team can have an outstanding performance in the world preliminaries and win glory for Chinese football.