On January 26, 2015, the State Council officially approved the overall plan for the reform and development of Chinese soccer, marking a brand new historical stage in the development of youth soccer in China. Since then, China's soccer population has shown a year-on-year upward trend, especially in the age group of U17 and below, this growth trend is particularly obvious. From this point of view, the victory of Chinese soccer seems to be a matter of course, which is undoubtedly the best proof of the initial results since the soccer reform.
Progress in soccer is not a one-day process. The steady growth of China's soccer population in recent years heralds the arrival of a bumper harvest, but we still have a long way to go compared to the ideal state. the brilliant results of the U17 Women's Asian Cup have given fans a glimpse of China's women's soccer team's rise to prominence, or at least showed that the younger generation is thriving. In short, Chinese soccer has survived its toughest period. While the adult teams may still not be performing as well as they should, the rise of the youth teams has certainly injected new energy into the future.
The future of China's women's soccer team is bright, and more young talents are expected to emerge in the future. As the fans said, we almost completely overwhelmed our opponents in this game, which is a victory we haven't seen for a long time. Currently, the women's soccer team is developing at a steady pace and is expected to revitalize faster than the men's team. In about 5 to 10 years, China's women's soccer team is expected to return to the ranks of the world's strongest teams.
As for China's men's soccer team ladder, there has been no significant progress yet, which means that the men's team ladder is still in a dormant period. In the 2023 U17 Asian Cup, although China has players with outstanding performance, the overall strength still needs to be improved. The game of soccer depends heavily on teamwork, especially in East and Southeast Asia, where physical confrontation is relatively weak, and thus teamwork is needed even more. Overall, the men's soccer team ladder is still in its infancy and has a long way to go before it can blossom.
The soccer reforms have involved players in generally younger age groups. Currently, the U15 age group could be hiding future stars, and by 2025, we can expect to see them in the U17 Asian Cup. Despite China finishing last in their final match, we are looking forward to qualifying for the group stage of the U17 Asian Cup, although the road to the U17 World Cup remains challenging. In addition, the U17 World Cup will increase to 48 teams from 2025 and will be held annually, so China's return to the U17 World Cup should not be too far away.
The last time China played in the World Youth Championships was in 2005, when we made it to the last eight with a bang, eventually finishing seventh. These players included well-known names such as Wang Dalei, Yang Xu, Yu Dabao, Deng Zhuoxiang and Wang Xuanhong, who sparked controversy in China's First Division. China has been absent from the World Youth Championship for 20 years, but we look forward to returning to the tournament in the near future.
