The Chinese Taipei national football team is a product of a rich and tumultuous history. The team played as China and Taiwan before assuming its current name. Founded officially as China in 1924 and FIFA affiliated under that name in 1932, it rejoined FIFA in 1954.
The team’s name is due to an agreement between the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China. These are more commonly known as Taiwan and China. Taiwan has an ambiguous international political status as China claims it as a territory.
Most of the team’s success has come in the Asian Cup. They have reached the semi-finals of the competition on two occasions. Chinese Taipei has also won the gold medal at the Asian Games twice for football.
The country played its first international as early as 1913. As China, the team beat the Philippines 1-0 away from home. The 2000’s brought two scoring records for Chinese Taipei, one more valued than the other. A match against Kuwait in 2006 saw the team lose 10-0. Less than twelve months later they beat Guam by the same scoreline.
Chinese Taipei has never qualified for a world cup under any name, though it has entered qualifying tournaments since 1978.