The Chinese men's football team tied with Singapore 2:2 in the World Cup preliminaries away game. The Chinese team had 1 win and 1 loss in the first two rounds, narrowly beating Thailand 2:1 away from home and losing 0:3 at home to South Korea.
In the Asian Cup at the beginning of the year, the Chinese team failed to score a single goal and was eliminated from the group. This game is also the first match of the Chinese national football team led by new coach Ivankovic.