Topend Sports Logo

China at the World Cup

The Chinese national football team first tried to qualify for the 1958 World. After a break, they again tried to qualify for the 1982 World Cup.

In 2002, the Chinese team made it to the World Cup finals for the first time but was knocked out in the group round after losing all three matches to Türkiye, Brazil and Costa Rica, and did not score a goal.

Although Hong Kong and Macao have been re-unified with China in 1997 and 1999 respectively, they retained the independent status of their national associations with FIFA. Chinese Taipei, which to some people is also considered part of China, has been affiliated with FIFA since 1954.



Related Pages

send us a comment Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.

FIFA World Cup Extra

The next men's World Cup will be held held jointly in Canada, USA and Mexico 2026, for the women the next will be Brazil in 2027. See more firsts and other trivia, a quiz, and also information about each country at the World Cup. Most importantly, who are the winners?

More Football

Football (some call it soccer) is the world's most popular sport. There are many major football tournaments, the pinnacle is the FIFA World Cup. See a calendar of what is coming up. There have been many legends of the game, particularly winners of the Ballon d'Or. For players, there are articles about Football Fitness and Fitness Testing.

Major Events Extra

The largest sporting event in the world is the Olympic Games, but there are many other multi-sport games. In terms of single sport events, nothing beats the FIFA World Cup. To see what's coming up, check out the calendar of major sporting events.

 → How to Cite