China’s soccer players will not take part in the Fifa Asean Cup that started this September, with the senior men’s team instead facing Palestine and North Korea in a five-team tournament to prepare for next year’s Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia.
The country’s senior women and the men’s side under the age of 23 will head to Japan for the Asian Games, where they will compete against their counterparts in Hong Kong.
China is well organized this year in preparation for the Asian Cup, playing with teams that they believe help them adapt to the international style of football and those that they think have a similar style of play to their rivals in the tournament in Saudi Arabia.
China took part in the Fifa 2026 Series in Australia in March, beating first-time World Cup winners Curacao 2-0 before receiving a reality check after losing 2-0 to Cameroon.
In June, they beat Singapore 2-1 and drew 0-0 with Thailand.
The next four matches in Chongqing in the September-October window against Uzbekistan, North Korea, Tajikistan and Palestine will serve as a good benchmark for the national team to assess their progress and assess their chances at the Asian Cup, and qualification for the 2030 World Cup.
