China’s Sohu website ran the headline: “The dream of participating in the 2026 World Cup has been shattered. After losing 0-1 to Indonesia, the Chinese team has officially missed the World Cup held in 3 countries: the United States, Canada and Mexico.”
In the content section, Sohu reported on how the team from the billion-people country lost: “Yang Zexiang made a silly mistake, giving the Indonesian opponent a penalty. Romeny from Indonesia successfully executed the 11m penalty kick, scoring the only goal of the match.”
Chinese players (in white) were disappointed after losing to Indonesia (Photo: Sohu).
“In the second half, despite their best efforts, the Chinese team could not change the score, lost 0-1 and was eliminated,” Sohu added.
Since the 2002 World Cup, Chinese football has not qualified for the World Cup. The team tried very hard to change that in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, but failed.
Sohu disappointedly commented: “Before playing against Indonesia, the Chinese team had lost three consecutive matches, against Japan, Saudi Arabia and Australia. That means another defeat against the team from the archipelago country means the Chinese team is eliminated.”
“On the Indonesian side, they are very determined to get a ticket to the World Cup. This is the detail that makes the match between Indonesia and the Chinese team very fierce,” is still the line written on the Sohu page.
The Chinese team has no chance of reaching the 2026 World Cup (Photo: Sohu).
The decisive moment in China’s away match against Indonesia was a controversial penalty. However, the Chinese media did not blame the referee, they only criticized the home team’s players for their immaturity.
Sohu wrote: “In the 40th minute, Yang Zexiang seemed to have moved out of the penalty area with the opponent. He recklessly kicked the Indonesian player in the back.”
“Initially, the referee did not blow the whistle. However, VAR intervened. After consulting VAR technology, the referee awarded the Indonesian team a penalty, leading to Romeny's decisive goal from the 11m mark,” Sohu emphasized.
With an early exit from the 2026 World Cup, Chinese football shows that they have yet to regain their position in the top group of Asia.
In particular, since some football teams in Southeast Asia, such as Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, have risen in recent years, Chinese football has had another tough opponent in international tournaments in Asia.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/bao-trung-quoc-giac-mo-tham-du-world-cup-2026-da-tan-vo-20250606075832643.htm
![[Photo] General Secretary To Lam works with Lam Dong, Binh Thuan and Dak Nong provinces](https://vphoto.vietnam.vn/thumb/1200x675/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2025/6/11/c3e736d90cda4fe78f96c9bfb68d4e0b)
Comment (0)