"Soccer Feast 2022: Women's Asian Cup Rush, Men's Soccer in Full Swing!"

As the clock strikes 2022, Chinese soccer enters a new year with a sigh of relief. While the year remains stellar for Chinese sports, with the Winter Olympics in February in their hometown and the Asian Games in Hangzhou in September undoubtedly the highlights, the challenges for Chinese men's and women's soccer will perhaps exceed the hardships of 2021. China's women's soccer team, under the direction of Shui Qingxia, will first usher in the first battle of the foreign war in 2022 - the Women's Asian Cup and the World Cup Asian qualifiers. As for men's soccer, national teams at all levels are also fully prepared to face unknown challenges. **Men's Soccer: Challenges Aplenty, Survival Against the Odds** * **National Team: The Journey Continues in the Top 12 In 2022, the main event for the Chinese men's soccer team is still the World Cup Qualifier Asian Zone Top 12 Tournament. Theoretically, the national soccer team still has a chance to compete for the third place play-off qualification. New manager Li Xiaopeng's first match after taking over is against Japan at the 2002 World Cup Stadium in Saitama on January 27th, followed by an away match against Vietnam on February 1st in the Lunar New Year. These two games will be decisive turning points. ! [Men's soccer matches](https://www.ballti.com/UploadFiles/Sinaimg/2022-01/2022010306292661100002304.jpg) If they are able to qualify for the play-offs, the national football team will travel to Doha in June to continue the fight; if not, only warm-up matches will be scheduled for the international match window from May 30 to June 14th. However, this goal seems to be out of reach due to the domestic epidemic prevention policy. * **U23 National Football Team: Challenges for the Asian Games** As a result of the epidemic, China's 99-age U23 national football team withdrew from the fifth U23 Asian Cup qualifying tournament, disqualifying them from the final stage. This September, they will face Asian powerhouses in the Hangzhou Asian Games men's soccer tournament, a challenge not to be underestimated. ! [U23 National Football Team](https://www.ballti.com/UploadFiles/Sinaimg/2022-01/2022010306292695475002304.jpg) * **U21 National Youth: preparation for the Asian Games** It has been a long time since China's 2001-age U21 National Youth Football Team participated in an international tournament of the same age since they failed to make it out of the group stage of the 2019 U19 Asian Cup Qualifiers. This year, they will be looking for a breakthrough in the men's soccer competition at the Asian Games in Hangzhou. ! [U21 National Youth](https://www.ballti.com/UploadFiles/Sinaimg/2022-01/2022010306292731412502304.jpg) * **U19 National Youth: Impacting the World Youth Championship** China's 2003-age U19 National Youth Football Team, coached by Spaniard Antonio, will participate in the group stage of the 41st U20 Asian Cup Qualifiers from September 10th to 18th. Whether they can get a ticket to the World Youth Cup will be their primary goal this year. ! [U19 National Youth](https://www.ballti.com/UploadFiles/Sinaimg/2022-01/2022010306292745475002304.jpg) * **U17 National Youth: Preparing for the Asian Cup** The 2005 age group team will participate in the group stage of the 20th U17 Asian Cup Qualifying Tournament from October 1st to 9th. Their ability to qualify for the final stage of the tournament will be an important task for them this year. ! [U17 National Junior](https://www.ballti.com/UploadFiles/Sinaimg/2022-01/2022010306292775162502304.jpg) **Women's Soccer: The Road to Reconstruction is a Long Way to Go** Compared to men's soccer, the top priority of Chinese women's soccer is the reconstruction of the national team. * **Women's National Team: Asian Cup and World Cup Qualifiers** China's women's football team will usher in the 20th Women's Asian Cup on January 20, the first round of the group stage, the opponent is the Chinese Taipei team. This is the first appearance of the "newborn" team and a qualifier for the 2023 Women's World Cup. ! [Women's Asian Cup](https://www.ballti.com/UploadFiles/Sinaimg/2022-01/2022010306292798600002304.jpg) * **U20 Women's National Youth Football Team: preparation for the World Youth Cup** The final stage of the U20 Women's Asian Cup, which was supposed to be played in Uzbekistan in 2022, has been canceled and will be played in 2024 instead. China's U20 Women's National Youth Football Team will prepare for the 2023 U20 World Youth Championship in Indonesia this year. ! [U20 Women's National Youth Football Team](https://www.ballti.com/UploadFiles/Sinaimg/2022-01/2022010306292812662502304.jpg) * **U17 Women's National Youth Football Team: Preparation for the Asian Cup ** The 2006 age group U17 Women's National Junior Team will participate in the group stage of the 20th U17 Asian Cup Qualifying Tournament from October 1st to 9th. Whether they can get a ticket to the final stage of the tournament will be an important task for them this year. ! [U17 Women's National Youth Football Team](https://www.ballti.com/UploadFiles/Sinaimg/2022-01/2022010306292821412502304.jpg) **Club Chapter: AFC Champions League, a new challenge** In addition to national teams at all levels, the performance of clubs in the AFC Champions League is also of great concern. * **Chinese Super League: seeking a breakthrough** Affected by the epidemic, Chinese Super League clubs have performed poorly in the AFC Champions League for two consecutive years. This year, four Chinese Super League teams, Shandong Taishan, Shanghai Harbor, Guangzhou and Changchun Yatai, will play in the AFC Champions League. Whether they can change the downward trend of the Chinese Super League in the AFC Technical Points Ranking will be an important task for them this year. * **Women's AFC Champions League: the challenge of a new tournament** Whether the Women's AFC Champions League will continue to be an experimental tournament this year is not yet clear. However, last year's Women's Super League champions Wuhan Jiangda Women's Football Team will face the same challenge as the Chinese Super League's top four teams. **Summary: Challenges and Opportunities Coexist as Chinese Football Moves Forward** In 2022, Chinese soccer will face many challenges, but also full of opportunities. National teams, clubs and women's soccer teams at all levels will work hard in the new year to contribute to the future of Chinese soccer.