China's Wei Shihao (center) celebrates after scoring the first goal during the game against Curacao on March 27, 2026. Photo: VCG

China men's national football team beat World Cup debutant Curacao 2-0 in a FIFA Series match in Sydney on Friday. Wei Shihao and Zhang Yuning were on target for China's first win under head coach Shao Jiayi. 

On the stroke of halftime, Wei latched on to a header from captain Zhang and fired home with a left-footed shot. In the 59th minute, Zhang capitalized on a defensive clearance error to double the lead from close range.

This match marked China's first official FIFA international A-level match under the new head coach Shao. Shao was appointed as the head coach of China in November, 2025 after China was knocked out of the World Cup Asian qualifiers.

A total of 10 U23 players were included in Shao's squad for this international series following their performance in China's runners-up finish during the AFC U23 Asian Cup in January. It was also seen as a move to accelerate the team's generational transition. Four of them made it into the starting lineup against Curacao. 

Curacao, with a population of 156,000, booked its berth in this year's World Cup during the North America, Central America and Caribbean region's qualifiers in November 2025, becoming the smallest nation to ever qualify for a World Cup finals, Xinhua News Agency reported. 

China will face Cameroon in their second FIFA Series match on March 31.