On September 8, the Chinese Football Association issued an announcement on the selection of new coaches in the national football team, which attracted widespread attention. What is obviously different from the past is that this coach selection no longer regards "familiarity with Asian football" as a hard requirement, and opens the door to global coaches, with the goal directly aiming at the 2030 World Cup. Does this change mean a strategic transformation of the idea of choosing a coach? Has the new coach entered the Football Association's vision?
In the past few years, the national football team's coach selection criteria have always emphasized "familiar with Asian football" and tend to find candidates among coaches in Asia or with Asian coaching experience. The Football Association lifted this restriction this time, which means that coaches from Europe and even around the world can participate in the competition. This not only broadens the range of candidates, but also may bring new tactical concepts and management ideas. Many fans are looking forward to this.
For a long time, it is difficult for the national football team to make a breakthrough in the performance of the national football team, which has a lot to do with the limitations of the vision of coach selection. This adjustment shows the Football Association's determination to seek new and change, and is also in line with the goal of reaching higher-level events. After the announcement was released, some people speculated that the Football Association might have chosen it and that the recruitment was issued for procedures. At present, many coaches, including Cannavaro, have registered voluntarily, and Ivankovic recommends the candidates. The Football Association has made it clear that the technical department will participate in the evaluation throughout the process and strictly promote the selection of coaches in accordance with the procedures. If the official coach is not determined before the October warm-up match, it is not ruled out that the acting coach will temporarily take over the leadership responsibilities to ensure that the team's training and competition are not affected.
It is reported that Wenzhou Olympic Sports Center will host a Four-Country Invitational Tournament. If the new coach is in place at that time, his coaching debut is likely to be performed here. This will also become the first step to observe the new coach's tactical ideas and team adjustment.
The overall state of the Chinese national football team is still at a low point. Not only did the results of the adult team competition continue to be sluggish, but teams at all levels such as the National Youth League and the National Olympic Team also performed poorly, and even the victory was difficult to satisfy the fans. Previously, Ivankovic led the team to the 2026 World Cup but failed to leave the office in disgrace. Now the goal has shifted to the further 2030 World Cup, and the new coach will face a longer-term construction task.
Looking back on recent years, the Chinese national football team has frequently changed coaches but failed to achieve a breakthrough in performance. Whether the relaxation of the standards for coach selection this time will bring about real changes, it will take time to test.
What type of coach do you think the Chinese national football team needs the most at present? Is it an international famous coach or a coach who is good at building a youth team?
