Chinese soccer fans bemoan 0-7 loss to Japan as ‘Day of Humiliation’

Read a version of this story in Chinese

Chinese netizens reacted with embarrassment and frustration to the men’s national soccer team’s humiliating 0-7 loss to Japan in a World Cup qualifying match, with some calling it a “Day of Humiliation.”

“Ah! It’s simply embarrassing to talk about. As a Chinese, I am ashamed,” sports enthusiast Zhao Xiang told Radio Free Asia. “This is practically a joke.”

“Why can’t we solve these problems?” he asked. “I don’t think the physique of Chinese people is an issue. Koreans and Japanese are also Asian and they make it to the (World Cup). Why can’t we?”

Japan is one of Asia’s strongest teams, competing in every World Cup since 1998. Meanwhile, China has only managed to qualify once, in 2002 – so getting beaten isn’t terribly surprising.

But losing by such a lopsided score in Thursday’s match in Saitama, north of Tokyo, was hard for many Chinese fans to swallow. 

Despite its relative lack of success in the world’s premier tournament, China is a soccer-crazed nation. President Xi Jinping, a fan himself, once expressed his hope for China to host and even win the men’s World Cup one day. 

“Sept. 5 is a day of humiliation for Chinese soccer,” said an online media outlet run by the government of Shandong province.

Chinese citizens have a complex relationship with Japan, owing to the troubled history between the two nations, which fought major wars against each other during the 20th century and found themselves aligned on opposite sides of the Cold War.

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While thousands of Chinese tourists have flocking to Japan each year, Chinese social media regularly erupts in Japan-bashing sentiment, such as when Japan released wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant last year into the ocean, sparking fears about tainted seafood. 

‘Real gap’

It was the worst loss for China’s men’s team since 2012, when the team suffered a 0-8 shellacking to perennial world powerhouse Brazil.

The Chinese women’s national soccer team has performed much better, competing in eight World Cups, with the 1999 team finishing 2nd in that year’s tournament. The women’s team is ranked 18th in the world, while the men’s team is ranked 87th.

Zhang Yuning, a former player of the Chinese team, said the match “demonstrates the real gap between Chinese and Japanese football.” 

“It is ultimately reflected in the score, which demonstrates the difference between Chinese and Japanese football,” he said.

He said the Chinese team should acknowledge the gap and try to perform better in the upcoming matches.

According to Chinese media reports, Fan Zhiyi, another former national player, also criticized the home team by stating that the loss to a powerful team like Japan was understandable, but it was terrible that Japan was allowed to score so easily.

“If it weren’t so far from here, I would have really jumped into the Huangpu river,” Fan said, referring to Shanghai’s main waterway, in a widely circulated video. “How many football association presidents have we had? Has anything changed? It’s just changing the syrup without replacing the prescription!” 

Competing for spots

Thursday’s match was the start of the third round of China and Japan’s world cup qualifying campaign, and they are competing with 16 other Asian teams for spots in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be hosted jointly by Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Wataru Endo opened up the scoring for Japan in the 12th minute, and China managed to keep the Japanese out of the goal for the rest of the first half until the second minute past regulation, when Kaoru Mitoma found the back of the net. 

Goals rained down on China in the second half, with Takumi Minamoto scoring in the 52nd and 58th minutes, followed by Junya Ito at 77, Daizen Maeda at 87, and Takefusa Kubo at 5 minutes past regulation.

Many fans on social media blamed the loss on China’s new manager, Croatian Branko Ivankovic, who was handed the reins in February, but others clapped back.

“Stop blaming the head coach and demanding for his resignation after the game,” netizens said. “It doesn’t matter who the coach is. … (we should) just withdraw from the competition. … We can’t afford the embarrassment.” 

Others suggested that China withdraw from international soccer altogether.

With the defeat, China sits at the bottom of the Group C standings, and will look to regain its footing on Tuesday vs Saudi Arabia in Dalian.

Also in Group C, Bahrain upset Australia 1-0 and Saudi Arabia and Indonesia played to a 1-1 draw.

Meanwhile, in Group B, Palestine turned heads earning a scoreless draw against heavily favored South Korea, and in Group A, North Korea lost to Uzbekistan 0-1.

Translated by Li Yaqian. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.