World Cup 2025 qualifiers: Chinese fans savage team after ...

Chinese football fans and media rounded on the national team on Friday after they suffered fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in World Cup qualifying.

President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a chastening evening in Saitama on Thursday.

The humiliation against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012.

Wataru Endo and Kaoru Mitoma scored in the first half, while Takumi Minamino scored twice in the second half with others from Daizen Maeda, Junya Ito and Takefusa Kubo.

China are still alive in the group despite the desperate start, but Oriental Sports Daily said: “When the taste of bitterness reaches its extreme, all that is left is numbness.”