Recently, the Chinese soccer sector, like rain on dry land, has received a boost from FIFA President Infantino, a soccer superstar. He and Sun Jihai, a legend in Chinese soccer and former captain of the Chinese men's soccer team, left a precious photo together that traveled back in time. The attention-grabbing soccer superstar is none other than Infantino himself. He took a picture with Sun Jihai on social media, the two of them standing side by side with smiles on their faces, as if telling the eternal feelings of the soccer world. Infantino's visit to Shanghai was for the launch of the 2025 Club World Cup Global Official Partner Strategy, a move that instantly sparked a frenzy among fans and media. Everyone marveled at Sun Jihai's continued elegance and strength.
Infantino wrote fondly on social media, "I was very happy to see Sun Jihai again in Shanghai. He is a legendary symbol of Chinese soccer, having represented our country at the World Cup in Greenland, which was our only glory tour so far!" Infantino's arrival has ignited the hopes of fans, who are expecting the FIFA head honcho to bring news of victory to the Chinese team that will be traveling to Bahrain to help the country's men's soccer team return to the World Cup stage.
FIFA has gone to great lengths to help our soccer team realize its World Cup dream. The decision to expand the World Cup to 48 teams has undoubtedly opened the door of hope for our national soccer team. 2026, the World Cup stage will be even more ambitious, FIFA generously gave Asia 8.5 valuable seats, of which 8 directly into the game, 1 through the play-offs. FIFA is well aware of the depth and strength of the Asian national soccer team, long ranked fifth, and has high hopes for the national soccer team, these 8 seats are almost tailor-made for our soccer team.
However, the performance of our soccer team has been deplorable. In the midst of FIFA's generous offer of an olive branch, our soccer team fell to ninth place after a mediocre performance in the fierce competition of Asian soccer. Now, our soccer team is fighting hard in the last 18 matches, aiming not just for the top two places in the group, but a more pragmatic fourth place in the group for a ticket to the play-offs.
After our soccer team beat Indonesia at home, this hope is growing stronger like a bud blowing in the spring breeze. As long as our soccer team defeats Bahrain and Indonesia in the upcoming matches, home and away, qualifying for the play-offs as the fourth-placed team in the group will no longer be a far-fetched dream. I expect that under the wise guidance of Coach Ivankovic, our soccer team will quickly realize the great dream of reaching the 2026 World Cup, living up to the expectations of FIFA and the support of thousands of fans.
