Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Chinese fans are once again lamenting the absence of their national team from the FIFA World Cup.

President Xi Jinping has spent billions of dollars trying to turn Beijing into a soccer powerhouse. Yet, corruption, player insulation, bribery, and incompetent coaches, among other factors in the country’s sports system, have shaped the men’s national team into a consistently underperforming squad.

Read the full analysis here: foreignpolicy.com/2026/06/23/world-cup-china-soccer-xi-jinping-corruption-reform