Chinese football club to form Esports team after NT is not eligible for the FIFA World Cup

The top football organ of China said on Tuesday that it was planning to form a National Esports team, a surprise study of virtual gaming after a gloomy version did not eligible the country for the FIFA World Cup 2026.

The new National Esports Football team will compete in «Events organized by FIFA, the Asian football confederation and other organizations,» said Chinese Football Association (CFA).

The CFA last month dismissed the national coach Branko Ivankovic after a 1-0 defeat against Indonesia, a result that the hope of China to qualify effectively brought himself to the world cup.

But while China gets away in 94th place in the world ranking of FIFA, two places under the small Luxembourg to the huge fan base, the Esports sector of the Booming is the Esports sector.

In 2024, the industry had around 490 million users, generated $ 38.5 billion in annual turnover and organized 124 eSports competitions.

During the Asian Games of 2023, the Chinese Esports team insured four of the five gold medals. The trip from the CFA to Esports led to mixed reactions in Chinese football fans.

«I think this may really work,» said a Weibo user. «We have a pretty substantial eSports players in our country, and the selection of talent is relatively fair,» he said.

Others were less optimistic. «They crushed football in real life and now they want to mess up football in Esports,» wrote another.