Chinese fans call for national football team to be disbanded

Chinese fans used the word “humiliating” to describe the defeat on September 5. “The Chinese team faced scorn and backlash on social media,” said an article on Channel News Asia. “Fans also mocked the state of football in the country.”

The defeat in Saitama, Japan became the most trending topic on Sina Weibo - China's largest social network, as of the afternoon of September 6. "National team lost 0-7 to Japan" became a topic that received 530 million views, with many harsh comments attracting tens of thousands of likes.

"They thought losing two goals was enough, but they made history with a 0-7 score," one account commented. Another wrote "now I understand why CCTV didn't broadcast the match."

Criticism continued to appear on Weibo's top trending topic. One account said that the Japanese goalkeeper had not been seen since the match. Others called for the team to be disbanded, saying "there is no point in spending so much money on this useless group".

China's previous biggest loss to Japan was by two goals. Their last major defeat in a competitive match was a 4-1 defeat to Iran in 1997, a qualifier for the 1998 World Cup. It was also China's biggest loss in 12 years, since an 8-0 defeat to Brazil in a friendly in 2012.

China entered the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers as runners-up in Group C of the second qualifying round. But they only advanced on head-to-head difference after being tied on points, goal difference and goals scored. Meanwhile, Japan won all six of their matches, scoring 24 goals and conceding none.

Japan are ranked 17th in the FIFA rankings, 71 places above China. But the fact that the "samurai warriors" won by seven goals is still surprising. "Japan is not only the strongest team in Asia, but also world class," coach Branko Ivankovic said at a press conference after the match.

The Croatian coach lamented that it was the "most difficult night" of his coaching career. He stressed that the team had focused especially on defense during preparation, but still conceded too many goals and some that should not have been scored.

Popular sports blogger He Sheng, who has more than a million followers on Weibo, traveled to Saitama to watch the match live with his daughter. What stuck in his mind was the players' poor performance. "There's nothing to say about this match," He Sheng said.

China is considered the second strongest sports nation in the world, after the United States. But they cannot find a way to develop the king sport, and cannot realize the ambition of becoming a "global football superpower" of General Secretary Xi Jinping. Chinese clubs once spent a lot of money to recruit big stars to the National Championship, like Saudi Arabia is doing, but the result was a football foundation lacking depth in youth training.

In addition, corruption, especially in the Chinese Football Association (CFA), has slowed things down. In 2023, former CFA President Chen Tuoyuan was sentenced to life in prison for bribery in a 2022 investigation. Several high-ranking figures, notably former Chinese national team coach Li Tie, have also been arrested.

The last and only time China qualified for the World Cup was in 2002. Former national team captain Fan Zhiyi believes that in the current context, a second World Cup appearance is impossible. The defeat to Japan on the evening of September 5 only further eroded the confidence of fans. "The way they lost was unacceptable," Fan wrote on Weibo.

The Oriental Sports Daily said Chinese football was hitting rock bottom. “When the bitterness reaches its peak, all that remains is numbness,” the article said. It also called Ivankovic an incompetent coach who contributed to the debacle.

The third qualifying round for the 2026 World Cup has just finished its first round. China has nine more matches to restore the trust of its fans. But things are not simple, as in the next match on September 10, they will host Saudi Arabia - a team that also had its pride touched when drawing 1-1 with Indonesia at home.