Only the official announcement remains; Ma Xiaoxu is set to become the head coach of the U17 women's national football team.

Reporter Wang Wei reports. From December 23 to 29, 2025, the Chinese Football Association organized the third U16 female elite player training camp of 2025 at the CFA Women's Youth Training Center in Shenzhen. Ma Xiaoxu and Zi Jingjing took charge of the selection group for this camp. Players chosen from this training camp will be promoted in 2026 to form the U17 women's national team. Ma Xiaoxu, who participated in the selection process, is expected to take on the important role of head coach for this team in 2026.

On December 9 last year, Xu Jiren, vice chairman of the Chinese Football Association, stated at the CFA's annual coach training graduation ceremony that developing and employing local coaches is an unwavering policy of the CFA. "Due to historical reasons, local coaches have been somewhat underrepresented in national teams. At one point, Wang Hongliang was the only local coach among national team coaches. The U17 women's team performed well at the Youth World Cup, achieving their best result in history. Currently, aside from Shao Jiayi as the men's national team head coach, and Zhou Haibin as the U14 national youth team head coach," Xu Jiren said, "the CFA will create more opportunities for local coaches in the future."

Against this backdrop, Chinese coaches who have had outstanding achievements as players and gained solid practical experience as coaches are likely to receive more opportunities.

At the end of last year, at the U17 Women's Youth World Cup, domestic coach Wang Hongliang led the U17 women's national team to reach the round of 16, marking the best performance ever for the team at this tournament. After concluding this campaign, Wang Hongliang confirmed he would not continue as head coach for the next U17 women's national team. Later, at the end of 2025, he joined the Chinese women's football coaching staff as an assistant coach. This confirms that the head coach position for the new U17 women's national team will be reopened for selection.

In April 2025, the Chinese Football Association secured the hosting rights for the 2026 U17 Women's Asian Cup. On April 22, 2025, the Asian Football Confederation confirmed that the next three editions of the tournament would be held in Suzhou, with the 2026 event scheduled from April 30 to May 17. This means the upcoming U17 women's national team will participate in the U17 Women's Asian Cup as the host nation.

Recently, the third U16 female elite player training camp of 2025 was held at the Shenzhen Football Youth Training Base to select players for the U17 women's team. Among the 50 selected players, some have competed in the Morocco U17 World Cup, most have participated in the 15th National Games, and several have won runner-up at the Montaigu Tournament in France. Players such as Ye Xinyi, Chen Qinyu, Fang Zhenzhu, Ouyang Rongxin, Liu Yuke, Cheng Wandi, Huang Qinyi, and Li Wanzhao, who performed well at the 15th National Games, all took part in this selection. Players from Shanghai, Jiangsu, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Sichuan make up more than half of the group. Ma Xiaoxu led the selection process.

In 2006, 18-year-old Ma Xiaoxu shone brightly at the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup in Russia, leading the Chinese women's team to a runner-up finish and winning both the Golden Ball and Golden Boot awards. This was a highlight of Ma Xiaoxu's career. For many years afterward, her name has been closely linked with the Chinese women's national team, winning the Women's Asian Cup and competing in the World Cup and Olympics with the team.

At the end of 2022, 34-year-old Ma Xiaoxu retired from Beijing Women's Football Club and joined its coaching staff as an assistant. In 2025, she stood on the winner's podium with Beijing Women's Football Club for the 2025 Women's Super League championship. After three years of transitioning, Ma Xiaoxu received an excellent learning opportunity in 2025 by joining FIFA's Elite Coach Mentor Program, allowing her to further study and improve. Jonas Edvall, head coach of the San Diego Wave FC in the U.S. Women's Soccer League, became her mentor, and Ma Xiaoxu had the chance to learn with the San Diego Wave team.

From attending FIFA's elite coaching training program in Switzerland to recently participating in the third U16 female elite player training camp of 2025, Ma Xiaoxu has established her path forward: to become the head coach of China's U17 women's national football team. Having achieved great success as a player at this age level, Ma Xiaoxu is poised to lead this group of players toward even better results through her practical experience.