AIMING FOR HIGHER GOALS

After a roller-coaster 2024, Chinese soccer hopes to return some luster to its beautiful game

With the men's team struggling in its World Cup qualifying effort, and the domestic league losing its appeal, Chinese soccer signed off an eventful year craving a healthier future, away from the ill repute of numerous corruption scandals.

As sports fans relish China's athletic achievements after a remarkable Olympic year, the country's mediocre soccer program would hardly place high up on any honor rolls, with a series of setbacks and incidents, such as the men's squad's worst-ever Asian Cup outing and jail sentences for several former coaches and officials for corruption, all of which took a heavy toll on the sport's profile.

The men's squad's remaining hope for making it to the 2026 World Cup Finals, though, has offered fans at least something to look forward to, despite the fact that it faces massive task to survive a tough group and qualify for the marquee FIFA tournament for only the second time since its solo appearance in 2002.