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    "headline": "China’s men’s football team has played one World Cup, in 2002, and lost all three games without sc",
    "description": "China's men's national football team has qualified for only one FIFA World Cup, in 2002, where it lost to Costa Rica, Brazil and Turkey without scoring.",
    "datePublished": "2026-11-13T01:15:00+00:00",
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    "keywords": "2002 FIFA World Cup, Bora Milutinović, Brazil, China national football team, Turkey",
    "articleBody": "China’s men’s national team has played at exactly one FIFA World Cup, in 2002, and in three matches it lost every game, scored no goals and conceded nine. More than two decades and six qualifying campaigns later, that 0-9 record is still the country’s entire World Cup story. The gap is striking for the world’s most populous nation, with the next tournament, in Morocco, Portugal and Spain, set for 2030. Here is how China got there once, what happened when it did, and how often it has come close since. A 44-year wait ends in 2002 China first tried to qualify in 1957, aiming for the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, and went out after three matches. It then sat out several tournaments entirely before returning to qualifying for the 1982 edition and falling short again and again through the 1980s and 1990s. The breakthrough came under Bora Milutinović, the Serbian coach known as the “Miracle Worker.” He had already taken Mexico, Costa Rica, the United States and Nigeria to World Cups, and in charge of China from 2000 to 2002 he guided the team to its first-ever place among the 32 finalists. The qualifying run was dominant: 12 wins, one draw and one defeat in 14 matches, with 38 goals scored and only five conceded. In China he was celebrated as a hero and nicknamed Milu. That made Milutinović the coach of five different countries at five consecutive World Cups, from 1986 to 2002. Two other managers have also led teams at five World Cups, but he is the one who did it with a different nation each time, in an unbroken run. Three games in Group C The 2002 finals were held in South Korea and Japan, close to home, and China was drawn in Group C with Brazil, Turkey and Costa Rica. The results: June 4, Gwangju: China 0, Costa Rica 2. Gómez and Wright scored four minutes apart in the second half in front of 27,217 fans. June 8, Seogwipo: Brazil 4, China 0. Roberto Carlos, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho from the penalty spot and Ronaldo all scored. June 13, Seoul: Turkey 3, China 0. Hasan Şaş and Bülent struck inside the first nine minutes, and Davala added a third late on. China finished bottom of the group with no points and a goal difference of minus nine, placing 31st of 32 teams. The Costa Rica game, the closest of the three, was the team’s most respectable showing. Milutinović resigned after the tournament. The near-misses since The numbers since 2002 tell their own story. China has entered every qualifying campaign from 2006 to 2026 and has not reached another finals. Across its full World Cup qualifying history, the team has played 142 matches, winning 78, drawing 22 and losing 42, with 285 goals for and 125 against. That is a winning rate of roughly 55 percent, yet across six straight campaigns since 2002 it has never been enough to get through. The most recent campaign, for the expanded 48-team 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States, was among the hardest to swallow. Even with more places on offer than ever, China won only five of its 16 qualifiers, drew two and lost nine, scoring 16 goals and conceding 29. Put the two campaigns side by side and the decline is plain: the 2002 squad won about 86 percent of its qualifiers, while the 2026 squad won about 31 percent. Asian sport has a deep well of unusual records, from the Arima Kinen horse race that set a world betting record in Japan to football’s longest droughts; more is in Badiyaa’s sports section. Eight players appeared in all three of China’s 2002 matches, among them Hao Haidong and Li Tie. Three World Cup appearances each is still the most any Chinese player has made. Further reading Wikipedia: China at the FIFA World Cup Wikipedia: Bora Milutinović Image: Dan820526, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by our Editorial Desk. How we work.",
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