China Football Association Continues Overseas Strategy by Hosting Consecutive U20 Asian Cups

Reported by Chen Yong On December 4th, the AFC officially declared that China will be the host for the 2027 U20 Asian Cup. Being the only bidding country, China will consecutively host two editions of the U20 Asian Cup, with the 2025 tournament successfully held in Shenzhen from February 12 to March 1 this year.

The qualifiers for the 2027 U20 Asian Cup will begin in August 2026, with the final tournament scheduled for March 2027. As in previous editions, the finals will serve as the pathway for Asian teams to qualify for the 2027 U20 World Cup. The 2027 U20 World Cup will be co-hosted by Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.

Hosting two consecutive U20 Asian Cups is somewhat surprising — from the inception of the U20 Asian Cup and its predecessor, the AFC Youth Championship, since 1959 until the 2025 tournament, China had only hosted once, which was the 2010 AFC Youth Championship. As for the U17 Asian Cup and its predecessor, the AFC U16 Championship, China has never hosted since 1985.

This breakthrough in hosting consecutive U20 Asian Cups reflects the Chinese Football Association's persistent strategy in recent years to bid for international tournaments and expand overseas exchanges comprehensively. It also benefits from China's outstanding performance in hosting three Asian events this year: the U20 Asian Cup, the U23 Asian Cup qualifiers, and the U17 Asian Cup qualifiers.

Starting this year, Chinese football has launched a talent development strategy overseas, including national teams participating in key international competitions abroad, players going overseas, and hosting more types of international football events. For example, the 2007 age group national youth team returned to the Panda Cup, players like Wei Xiangxin have gone abroad, and domestic hosting of international football tournaments has also increased significantly this year.

Since the formation of the new leadership team of the Football Association, football diplomacy has become a key focus, with numerous related announcements visible to the public. More importantly, the Chinese Football Association has been actively communicating with FIFA and AFC, vigorously bidding for various official international tournaments.

The rise of a country’s football begins with youth development, reflected in national team competitions first by breakthroughs in youth teams' results, followed by improvements in senior national team performances. This is also the case for Chinese football, which is currently restoring its ecosystem.

According to the pattern, breakthroughs occur first at the youth national team level, then progress in the junior national teams, and finally the senior national team rises—this is a gradual, step-by-step process.

Among the international football tournaments China bids for, aside from the World Cup, the highest priority naturally goes to the U20 and U17 World Cups. Hosting these allows all youth national teams direct participation in world competitions. Next in priority are the U17 and U20 Asian Cups, where hosting increases the chances for Chinese youth teams to compete in these major tournaments.

After the U17 World Cup was changed to an annual event, the Chinese Football Association paid close attention and actively communicated with FIFA and AFC. However, FIFA had already awarded the 2025-2029 U17 World Cup hosting rights to Qatar, and subsequently, AFC gave the 2026-2028 U17 Asian Cup hosting rights to Saudi Arabia. Comparatively, the U20 World Cup and U20 Asian Cup became the breakthrough points, and ultimately, China secured hosting rights for the 2025 and 2027 U20 Asian Cups consecutively.

The 2027 U20 Asian Cup will feature players born in 2007, currently classified by the Chinese Football Association as the U18 national team (referred to as the 07 U18 team for simplicity).

The 07 U18 team was officially established this year with coach Jurjevic, who previously coached the 05 age group. They have held three training camps this year: the first was a selection camp with 59 players in two groups; the second camp involved 31 players and included two friendly matches against Kyrgyzstan’s U18 team; the third camp is ongoing from December 2 to 7 in Shanghai with 27 players.

At the 2025 U20 Asian Cup, the host 05 U18 team, led by Jurjevic, won their first two group matches to qualify early, beating Qatar 2-1 and Kyrgyzstan 5-2, and narrowly losing 1-2 to Australia in the last match. The team performed well across all three matches, including against Australia. In the crucial quarterfinal, the 05 U18 team briefly had hopes of qualifying for the U20 World Cup but missed a penalty and were ultimately eliminated by a last-minute goal. Overall, their performance received positive reviews externally.

Continuing to host the U20 Asian Cup is a significant advantage for the 07 U18 team. On one hand, they avoid the strain of qualifiers and can focus on high-level matches to prepare for the finals; on the other hand, playing at home will surely motivate the team to build momentum. This year’s U20 Asian Cup, U23 Asian Cup qualifiers, and U17 Asian Cup qualifiers all saw strong home crowd support, creating a vibrant atmosphere that greatly boosted the young players’ morale.