Players compete in the AFC U23 Asian Cup qualifier match between China and Australia in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, on September 9, 2025. Photo: VCG

The Chinese national under-22 football team qualified for the Under-23 Asian Cup as one of four best-ranked runners-up team, after holding Australia to a scoreless draw at the qualifiers on Tuesday.

The Australian team dominated in ball possession with 74 percent, compared to home team China's 26 percent, under the gaze of 33,022 people at the newly unveiled Xi'an International Football Center in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province. 

Opportunities were scarce throughout the game. Australian midfielder Oscar Priestman's volley was on target but was successfully blocked by Chinese goalkeeper Li Hao only three minutes after the half-time break.

The Chinese team's head coach Antonio Puche, who took over the team in August 2024, said the result is the fruits of intensive preparation.

"The entire match was extremely tough, Australia showed us a great deal of respect," Puche told the post-match news conference through an interpreter. 

"We have been training and preparing intensively since August 25, right up until we achieved this result today. Chinese football has been lacking a sense of joy, and the efforts we put in today have brought about this very joy."

Heading into Tuesday's match, the Chinese under-22 team defeated Timor-Leste 2-1 before routing Northern Mariana Islands 10-0. But fans were not satisfied with the team's lackluster performances despite them scoring 12 goals in total.

The Chinese men's national teams have a bitter history with their Australian counterparts. The last time a Chinese men's national team beat Australia was in 2013, when the Chinese senior national team defeated Australia 4-3.

Fans have pinned their hopes on the national under-22 team bringing some inspiring results to Chinese football. 

The team's qualification for the U23 Asian Cup is the only goal outlined by the Chinese Football ­Association (CFA) for the men's national teams that has been achieved so far.

This year the national under-17, under-20 and senior national football teams have all failed to qualify for their respective World Cup events.

Experts warn that the gap between China and Asia's leading football team still needs to be addressed.

"It's important to note that whether it was the U20 team from Shenzhen [during the U20 Asian Cup] or today's U22 team, Australia's star players such as the young prodigy Nestory Irankunda didn't appear," Lu Yang, a Beijing-based football commentator, told the Global Times. 

"That means there is still a huge gap between our overall strength and that of the top-tier teams in Asia."

Zhang Bin, a sports commentator, noted that Tuesday's qualification means the national team finally broke the jinx of being only "one draw away from qualification."

"After all these years, when a draw would be enough to qualify, we finally made it," Zhang said.

Nine players in the Chinese under-22 team squad were summoned to the senior national team to play World Cup Asian qualifiers earlier this year. 

Those players include forward Wang Yudong, who is also the current domestic top scorer with 11 goals across 22 Chinese Super League appearances. 

The Zhejiang FC forward scored four goals in the U23 qualifiers, leveling with teammate Baihelamu Abuduwaili of Shenzhen Peng City.

Speaking of the preparation to the U23 Asian Cup, Puche said the team will make full use of the two international matchdays in October and November. 

"Once the Chinese domestic football competitions come to an end, we will get the team together as early as possible to start preparing for the tournament," the Spaniard told reporters. 

According to the U23 Asian Cup qualification rules, 11 group winners and the four best second-placed teams across all groups will earn berths in the finals, which will be hosted in Saudi Arabia in January 2026. 

A total of 16 teams will play in the finals tournament, including Saudi Arabia, who qualified automatically as host country.

The Chinese team has participated in the U23 Asian Cup five times so far and has never been eliminated in the qualifying stage. 

However, none of the Chinese U23 teams at the five U23 Asian Cups have gone beyond the group stage. 

The Chinese team only withdrew from the 2022 edition due to pandemic travel restrictions. The team's best performance in the tournament came in 2024, when it finished in ninth place.

The Chinese U23 team will also play at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, in 2026.

For the senior national team, currently, the head coach position remains empty as the CFA is still soliciting applications for the role. 

Reports on Tuesday suggested that 2006 World Cup-winning captain and former Guangzhou FC head coach Fabio Cannavaro has submitted an application.