The national football team participated in the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan.

In 2002, the world-famous magical coach Milu led the Chinese national team to enter the World Cup co-organized by South Korea and Japan. The first time the Chinese team participated in the World Cup finals was the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup. The participating players included Jiang Jin, Ou Chuliang, An Qi, Fan Zhiyi, Zhang Enhua, Li Weifeng, Wu Chengying, Dewey, Sun Jihai, Yang Pu, Xu Yunlong, Ma Mingyu, and Li Tie.

2002 was also the only time in the history of the Chinese football team that it entered the Football World Cup finals. In the 2002 World Cup Asian qualifiers, the national football team won all 6 games in the group stage and advanced to the top 10. In the top ten competition, the Chinese men's national football team, under the leadership of "magic coach" Milu, finished first in the group with 6 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. And reached the World Cup finals for the first time in history.

China National Football Team

The Chinese National Football Team was founded in 1924, and the women’s football team was established in 1984. Joined the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) in 1931, withdrew in 1958 and rejoined in 1979. Since 1976, the Chinese men's football team has participated in the AFC Asian Cup for nine consecutive times and reached the finals twice in 1984 and 2004. The men's soccer team's first and only appearance at a FIFA World Cup was the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan.

The Chinese women’s football team was the runner-up at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and the runner-up at the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup. On August 25, 2022, FIFA announced the latest FIFA national team rankings, ranking 78th in the world and 11th in Asia.