Beijing, Oct. 28 (BNA): When China’s February men’s World Cup qualifying campaign ended in a loss to Vietnam, coach Li Xiaoping apologized to the angry fans and promised that “Chinese football will definitely rebound in the future, but it needs hard work, generation after generation.”
The recovery process is being led by the country’s women, who are largely the focus of the Chinese Football Association’s short and medium term, according to the Associated Press.
China were drawn with England and Denmark in Group D of the 2023 Women’s World Cup at a ceremony in Auckland, New Zealand, last week.
Just 48 hours later, the General Administration of Sports of China, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance and the Confederation of African Football announced a reform and development plan for women’s football until 2035.
By 2025, the plan stated that the goal was to have a league structure of 50 teams and 30 youth training centers “to improve the environment and atmosphere for the development of women’s football, and to strengthen the foundation for its development.”
The Chinese national team, who are competing in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in India, opened with a 2-1 victory over Mexico but were not eliminated from the group after losses to Colombia and Spain.
But if all goes according to the new plan, by 2035 China will have hosted and won the Women’s World Cup and football will be a widely popular participation sport for women and girls.
Next year’s World Cup, jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand, will give the plan’s architects an idea of the current level of the Chinese team. The goal is to reach the quarter-finals, or quarter-finals, in the 32-team tournament.
The Asian champions play matches against England and Denmark, and the four-team group will end next February with the winner of the play-off series that includes Senegal, Haiti and Chile.
Compared to the men, who lost all three matches in 2002 in their only appearance so far at the World Cup, the women have had successes in the past.
The Chinese women’s team reached the 1999 World Cup Final, lost on penalties to host nation the United States, and claimed nine Asian titles – although seven of them were between 1986 and 1999.
Next year’s World Cup, jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand, will give the plan’s architects an idea of the current level of the Chinese team. The goal is to reach the quarter-finals, or quarter-finals, in the 32-team tournament.
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