China’s men’s national football team is under fire after a devastating 0-3 defeat to South Korea’s second-tier squad in the opening match of the 2025 EAFF E-1 Championship.
The result not only extended China’s losing streak to six consecutive matches against Korea but also triggered a wave of national self-examination regarding the root causes behind the persistent failures of Chinese football.
The match, held on July 7 at Mir Stadium in Yongin, South Korea, saw goals from Lee Dong-gyeong, Joo Min-kyu, and Kim Joo-sung sink China’s hopes. NetEase described the result as “more than a humiliation in score—an embarrassment in performance,” noting that it marked a repeat of a similar disaster from 1978.
Despite having a population of 1.4 billion and ranking as one of the world’s top economies, China has failed to produce a competitive men’s football team capable of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup since 2002. The recent loss brings their winless streak in East Asian Cup opening games to ten and marks their sixth straight match against Korea without scoring.
Experts within China point to systemic issues far beyond the pitch. Football analyst Zhang Feng told AP News that China’s football crisis reflects broader sociopolitical flaws, including a lack of mutual trust and teamwork—a cultural product of the nation’s top-down governance model. _”Football requires team trust and horizontal collaboration, which are stifled in China’s rigid hierarchical system,” _he said.
Ironically, President Xi Jinping’s well-known love for football has only intensified the bureaucratic interference in the sport. Zhang Feng argues that heightened government interest has allowed corruption and political meddling to flourish within Chinese football.
Wang Xiaolei, another noted expert, added that China’s emphasis on rote memorization in education contradicts football’s need for creativity and initiative._ “The nation’s best formulas for success don’t apply to football,”_ he said. “China struggles with motivating passion and encouraging strategic thinking—qualities essential in team sports.”
Until China reforms its social and institutional framework, experts argue, the dream of football greatness will remain out of reach—no matter how vast the country’s resources or how popular the sport becomes.