Will the national football team get better in the next four years？

    Xinhua News Agency, Chongqing, June 10th (Reporter Zhao Jiantong, Gu Xun) With Wang Yudong’s penalty score of 1:0, the China men’s soccer team’s Asian qualifying tour for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico officially ended on the 10th. The bitter fruit of not being promoted has been swallowed in advance. Now, the key question is, what experience and lessons can China football learn from the experience of another failed World Cup? Where is the hope for the future?

    On June 10th, Wang Yudong (right) showed his jersey after scoring. Xinhua News Agency reporter Hu Xingyu photo

    The top 18 has stumbled all the way. When the Singapore team "helped" the national football team to advance, many fans shouted: "The Top 18 is our World Cup!" After losing to Indonesia in the away game, in the face of the bleak reality of being out, more people still feel uneasy.

    From expectation to disappointment, why does the strong enthusiasm of fans always turn into helpless sadness, and why does frustration always haunt China football!

    On June 10th, China team members (bottom) paid tribute to the fans after winning. Xinhua News Agency reporter Huang Weishe

    From the tactical and strategic aspects, the selection and employment of the head coach, the matching of tactics, the technical deformation of the players under high pressure, and the disadvantage of going away first and then home on the schedule … The details summarized in this preliminaries can be repeated.

    But in essence, this team does not have enough strength, and the ecology of China football is still not enough to support the national football team to stand out from the fierce competition.

    The top of the pyramid of the national team has always attracted attention. After 2002, nearly six complicated and futile sculptures were lost in the unstable tower foundation. Instead of betting on a few local factors to change and improve the national team’s performance in the short term, China football should establish a comprehensive and scientific football development system and pursue a natural way to enter the World Cup stage.

    On June 10th, a China football fan shed tears after the game. Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Cheng photo

    Windsor John, secretary general of AFC, once gave advice to China football: "If you want an excellent national team, you have to start at the grassroots level. After laying a solid foundation for youth training, plus good youth training colleges and coaches, it is necessary to build a strong and competitive league to further train players and clubs. This is the way to improve the level of the national team. "

    The league is the foundation of the national team. In recent seasons, Beijing, Dalian, Chengdu and other global cities have continued to be hot, and the performance of young players has become a hot topic many times. However, there is still a gap between our professional leagues and "strong and fierce competition": problems such as slow pace, short net competition time and weak antagonism still need to be solved for some time; To make way for the national team training, the schedule has become fragmented and criticized. In addition, it is obvious to all that the competitiveness of Super League clubs in AFC Champions League is declining, and the reduction of opportunities to play against top clubs in Asia further limits the ability of domestic players to enhance high-intensity competitions.

   On June 10th, Zhang Yuning (middle) was in the competition. Xinhua News Agency reporter Hu Xingyu photo

    The hope of the future lies in young people. In this preliminaries, a group of young players such as Wang Yudong and Liu Chengyu emerged, which is a valuable gain for the national team. In addition, a large number of young players in professional leagues at all levels began to get more and more playing time. At present, there are not a few players over the age of 30 in the national football team, and their hope of continuing to attack the World Cup in the future is slim. Therefore, no matter who will be the national football coach in the future, we must strengthen our determination to update and give young people more opportunities to grow into talents.

    On June 10th, Liu Chengyu (left) defended Bahrain player Amin Benadi in the game. Xinhua News Agency reporter Hu Xingyu photo

    Uzbekistan, which also participated in the Asian World Cup qualifiers, entered the World Cup finals for the first time in history, and their success once again verified the significance of attaching importance to youth training. In the past three years, their U17, U20 and U23 youth armies have been invincible in Asia. Moreover, two main players in Uzbekistan’s "golden generation" have established themselves in the Premier League and Serie A clubs. Behind these breakthroughs are more than 300 sports schools, 36 boarding football schools, more than 100 football clubs and 100,000 teenagers who participate in football in Uzbekistan in the past 20 years …

    Happily, in the top 18 matches, the five main venues in China were successful in hosting, the venues and facilities were used, and the fans watched the matches with great enthusiasm, which greatly boosted the confidence of the football market and football-related practitioners, and also played an important role in stimulating the football industry and invigorating the competition economy.

    On June 10th, China fans cheered before the game. Xinhua News Agency reporter Huang Weishe

    As a supplement to professional leagues, amateur leagues also bring some joy and expectation to Chinese people in another dimension. With the high attention of "Village Super" and "Su Chao" developing into phenomenal events one after another, a realistic problem is also placed between the China Football Association and relevant departments in various places, that is, how to make professional football and amateur football connect more effectively in the future, so that more players with football dreams can obtain a stable competitive environment.

    The popularity of amateur football and community football may be a signal that the soil of football in China is beginning to change. When the development of football atmosphere and football culture reaches a peak, it is expected that football will become the lifestyle of more Chinese people, influence more teenagers to take to the pitch, and thus promote the evolution of the whole football ecology.

    On June 10th, China team members took a group photo after the game. Xinhua News Agency reporter Huang Weishe

    Tonight, China Men’s Football Team will start the next World Cup cycle.

    Will the national football team get better in the next four years?

This problem is hard to say clearly. However, instead of falling into the dilemma of "scoring points and suffering from the next session", China football practitioners might as well put aside short-term utilitarian thoughts, focus on the long-term, firmly build the foundation of football, and pursue the natural way of success.