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China at the World Cup

The Chinese national football team first tried to qualify for the 1958 World. After a break, they again tried to qualify for the 1982 World Cup.

In 2002, the Chinese team made it to the World Cup finals for the first time but was knocked out in the group round after losing all three matches to Türkiye, Brazil and Costa Rica, and did not score a goal.

Although Hong Kong and Macao have been re-unified with China in 1997 and 1999 respectively, they retained the independent status of their national associations with FIFA. Chinese Taipei, which to some people is also considered part of China, has been affiliated with FIFA since 1954.



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