# China at the FIFA World Cup

China first entered World Cup qualification in 1957 in an attempt to qualify for the 1958 FIFA World Cup and has made its first appearance in 2002. Despite a respectable performance against Costa Rica, they lost all of their games without scoring a goal with a goal difference of 0-9.

## Overall record

| China's FIFA World Cup recordvte | China's FIFA World Cup recordvte | China's FIFA World Cup recordvte | China's FIFA World Cup recordvte | China's FIFA World Cup recordvte | China's FIFA World Cup recordvte | China's FIFA World Cup recordvte | China's FIFA World Cup recordvte | China's FIFA World Cup recordvte | Qualification record | Qualification record | Qualification record | Qualification record | Qualification record | Qualification record |
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | F | A | Pld | W | D | L | F | A |
| 1930 | Not a FIFA member | Not a FIFA member | Not a FIFA member | Not a FIFA member | Not a FIFA member | Not a FIFA member | Not a FIFA member | Not a FIFA member | Not a FIFA member | Not a FIFA member | Not a FIFA member | Not a FIFA member | Not a FIFA member | Not a FIFA member |
| 1934 to 1954 | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Declined participation | Declined participation | Declined participation | Declined participation | Declined participation | Declined participation |
| 1958 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 1962 to 1978 | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Declined participation | Declined participation | Declined participation | Declined participation | Declined participation | Declined participation |
| 1982 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 8 |
| 1986 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 2 |
| 1990 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 11 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 18 | 9 |
| 1994 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 4 |
| 1998 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 24 | 16 |
| 2002 | Group stage | 31st | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 14 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 38 | 5 |
| 2006 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 1 |
| 2010 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 4 |
| 2014 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 23 | 9 |
| 2018 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 18 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 35 | 11 |
| 2022 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 18 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 39 | 22 |
| 2026 | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 14 | 22 |
| 2030 | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined |
| 2034 | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined |
| Total | Group stage | 1/21 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 137 | 77 | 22 | 38 | 283 | 118 |

## FIFA World Cup squads and matches
### 2002 South Korea/Japan

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Brazil | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 3 | +8 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Turkey | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 4 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Costa Rica | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 4 | |
| 4 | China | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | −9 | 0 | |

## Record players

Eight players were fielded in all three of China PR's World Cup matches in 2002.
| Rank | Player | Matches |
| 1 | Hao Haidong | 3 |
| 1 | Jiang Jin | 3 |
| 1 | Li Tie | 3 |
| 1 | Li Weifeng | 3 |
| 1 | Li Xiaopeng | 3 |
| 1 | Qu Bo | 3 |
| 1 | Wu Chengying | 3 |
| 1 | Xu Yunlong | 3 |