The FIFA World Cup, sometimes called the Football World Cup or the Soccer World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946, due to World War II.
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This article is about the People's Republic of China national football team's recent record at the FIFA World Cup.
History
The China national team was founded in 1924 and joined FIFA in 1931-58, and then from 1979. China first entered World Cup qualification in 1957 in an attempt to qualify for the 1958 edition. China failed to score a goal in their maiden World Cup appearance in 2002. However, qualifying for the tournament has been considered the greatest accomplishment in China's football history. As football is widely followed in China, triumph by the national team is considered to be a source of national pride. Around 300 million people tuned into broadcasts of China's World Cup 2002 matches with a staggering 170 million new television sets being bought by citizens in order to watch their nation's first World Cup appearance. The team is colloquially referred to as Team China (中国队), the National Team (国家队) or Guozu (国足, lit. "national foot").