The China national football team was founded in 1924. The team joined FIFA in 1934 and the Asian Football Confederation in 1974. Despite these early origins, the Chinese civil war saw the Chinese football association relocate to Taiwan, then back to Beijing in 1949. China is one of the few countries whose women’s team is more successful than the men’s.

The modern China national football team played its first international in 1952. The team lost 4-0 away to Finland. Since that date the team has been known as China PR (standing for People’s Republic) for FIFA purposes.

As public support for football in China grew during the 1980s, so did the team’s success. In qualifying for the 1982 world cup the team made the play-off before losing to New Zealand.