China at the FIFA World Cup
China first entered World Cup qualification in 1957 in an attempt to qualify for the 1958 FIFA World Cup and has made its first appearance in 2002. Despite a respectable performance against Costa Rica, they lost all of their games without scoring a goal with a goal difference of 0-9.[1][2][3]
Qualification
FIFA World Cup qualification - Rank 26 in November 2024
- As of 27 March 2025
Overall record
| Qualification record | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | M | W | D | L | GF | GA | M | W | D | L | GF | GA | Link | ||
 1930
|
Not a FIFA member | Not a FIFA member | Link | ||||||||||||||
 1934
|
Did not enter | Declined participation | Link | ||||||||||||||
 1938
|
Link | ||||||||||||||||
 1950
|
Link | ||||||||||||||||
.svg.png){kind=small} 1954
|
Link | ||||||||||||||||
 1958
|
Did not qualify | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | Link | |||||||||
 1962
|
Did not enter | Declined participation | Link | ||||||||||||||
 1966
|
Link | ||||||||||||||||
 1970
|
Link | ||||||||||||||||
 1974
|
Link | ||||||||||||||||
 1978
|
Link | ||||||||||||||||
 1982
|
Did not qualify | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 8 | Link | |||||||||
| 1986
|
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 2 | Link | ||||||||||
| 1990
|
11 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 18 | 9 | Link | ||||||||||
 1994
|
8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 4 | Link | ||||||||||
.svg.png){kind=small} 1998
|
14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 24 | 16 | Link | ||||||||||
.svg.png){kind=small}  2002
|
Group stage | 31st | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 14 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 38 | 5 | Link | ||
| 2006
|
Did not qualify | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 1 | Link | |||||||||
 2010
|
8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 4 | Link | ||||||||||
| 2014
|
8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 23 | 9 | Link | ||||||||||
 2018
|
18 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 35 | 11 | Link | ||||||||||
 2022
|
18 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 39 | 22 | Link | ||||||||||
.svg.png){kind=small} 2026
|
16 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 16 | 29 | Link | ||||||||||
 .svg.png){kind=small} 2030
|
To be determined | ||||||||||||||||
 2034
| |||||||||||||||||
| Total | Group stage | 1/23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 142 | 78 | 22 | 42 | 285 | 125 | Link | ||
FIFA World Cup squads and matches
2002 South Korea/Japan
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil
|
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 3 | +8 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 |  Turkey
|
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 4 | |
| 3 |  Costa Rica
|
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 4 | |
| 4 |  China
|
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | −9 | 0 |
| China | 0–2 | Costa Rica |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
| Brazil | 4–0 | China |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Squads
| | |
Record players
Eight players were fielded in all three of China PR's World Cup matches in 2002.
| Rank | Player | Matches |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hao Haidong | 3 |
| Jiang Jin | 3 | |
| Li Tie | 3 | |
| Li Weifeng | 3 | |
| Li Xiaopeng | 3 | |
| Qu Bo | 3 | |
| Wu Chengying | 3 | |
| Xu Yunlong | 3 |
See also
References
- ^ "China's road to the finals". April 2, 2002 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "China marks 20 years since reaching only World Cup as wait set to go on". South China Morning Post. October 7, 2021.
- ^ "CHINA FACTS & FIGURES 2002 - china.org.cn". www.china.org.cn.
External links
- FIFA Official Ranking of all Participants at Finals 1930–2002. FIFA Match Results for all Stages 1930–2002
- FIFA official site
Head-to-head record
| Opponent | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | −4 | 0.00 |
| Costa Rica
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | −2 | 0.00 |
| Turkey
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | −3 | 0.00 |
| Total | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | −9 | 0.00 |