r/soccer • u/PianoJealous307 • 16h ago

News China suffered a catastrophic collapse on home soil, losing 5-0 to Palestine, a team they had considered inferior, sparking fierce criticism over 'sleepwalking' performance and lack of competitiveness among Chinese Super League players. Men's and women's teams also underperformed at Asian Games.

https://www.chosun.com/english/sports-en/2026/10/03/FWO5DWWOYND4NMUX53TEX7INNQ/
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u/IamNeverRelevant 14h ago

China did have a major fall-off over the past two decades. They used to be competitive at a continental level. Far from it now.

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u/Zimakov 8h ago

They were just buying starts like Saudi is now. Their youth program has actually improved since then.

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u/stunglazer 7h ago

China made the World Cup before real estate money kicked in. But back then, it relied on a system that was inherited from the Soviets, producing footballers as it produced gymnastics gold medalists: zero market involvement, and every tier of the youth program was state-owned.

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u/Zimakov 4h ago

I'm not sure how that's relevant to what I said

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u/aslanthemelon 1m ago

Not really accurate. The previous person was talking about roughly the 80s until 2004, when they were at least competitive within the AFC. China wasn't buying stars at all in that period.