Asian soccer powerhouses such as South Korea and Japan have been engaged in an exciting warm-up campaign during the FIFA Designated National Teams' Competition Window, which runs from September 18th to 27th. The Japanese men's soccer team defeated the United States 2-0, while the Son led South Korea played to a 2-2 draw with Costa Rica. Iran beat Uruguay with Luis Suarez 1-0 at home. However, the CFA has had few world-class tournaments at the national team level, except for organizing the U21 national team's overseas training trip to Croatia.
The Chinese men's soccer team missed out on the Qatar World Cup due to their poor performance in the World Cup qualifying round of 12, where they failed to make it out of the group. This has brought national team building to a virtual standstill this year, with the only activity being the Yankovic-coached U23 national team's participation in the East Asian Cup, and even less of a clear timetable for the second half of the year.
On the flip side, the South Korean and Japanese men's soccer teams have been active on the world stage, actively pursuing warm-up opportunities during the September tournament period in preparation for the World Cup. The Korean men's soccer team played Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Egypt in June, and despite a 1-5 loss to Brazil, followed up with a 2-0 win over Chile and a 2-2 draw with Paraguay.
At the end of September, South Korea invited Costa Rica and Cameroon to visit. Manager Bento not only recalled overseas players such as Son, but also brought back Lee Gang-in, a hot performer for La Liga's Mallorca, after more than a year, while Son Jun-ho, who plays for the Chinese Super League, also made his debut. They drew 2-2 with Costa Rica on the night of the 23rd.
Japan's men's soccer team has been more active, and in addition to the U23 national team's participation in the Dubai Cup and the U21 national team's appearance in the U23 Asian Cup, where they finished third, the Japanese national team defeated Brazil 0-1, Paraguay 4-1, and Ghana 4-1 in the Kirin Cup, before finishing as runners-up to Tunisia 0-3 in the final.
On the evening of September 23, Japan beat the United States 2-0 in Düsseldorf, Germany, a game in which they sent as many as nine players to stay in the world, in addition to the goalkeeper and right back, the other starters are from the mainstream European leagues. Although the U.S. team also has players in Europe's top five leagues, but in the face of outstanding Japanese players, the U.S. team appeared to be unable to do.
Of the six Asian teams playing in the World Cup, Qatar suffered a defeat as hosts. They lost 0-2 to Canada in a warm-up match in the early hours of Sept. 24 and lost 0-3 to Croatia three days earlier.
After the World Cup, by the epidemic and the league and other multiple impacts, the CFA failed to organize any national team level matches, seems to have been "self-abandonment", and even the head coach position has not been determined, which may be a major gap in Chinese soccer.
