"The Real World Cup Winner is China" Boasts Football Stadium Construction and Largest Sponsorship

Chinese Netizens Flaunt Stadium Infrastructure and Sponsorship Funds
China National Football Team Fails to Qualify for Finals in Past 20 Years

The China-Vietnam Asian qualifying match held in Hanoi, Vietnam last February. China lost 1-3 at that time. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Although the 2022 Qatar World Cup trophy went to Argentina, Chinese netizens are the ones cheering, drawing attention. Most of the sponsors of this World Cup are companies headquartered in China, and a significant portion of the infrastructure used during the matches was built by Chinese companies, leading to claims that China was effectively the main player of the World Cup.

On the 19th, many posts appeared on China's social networking service (SNS) 'Weibo' stating, "The real winner of the World Cup is China." They cited that the biggest sponsors of the Qatar World Cup were Chinese companies such as Hisense and Vivo, and that most of the stadiums, athlete village accommodations, and various items provided to players during the World Cup were "Made in China." They argue that since the World Cup stage was created through the power of Chinese companies and Chinese-made products, China is essentially the winner of the World Cup.

This claim also appeared in the English version of China's state-run media 'Xinhua News Agency.' On the same day, Xinhua quoted Song Xiangqing, a researcher at Beijing Normal University, saying, "The World Cup is a perfect stage for Chinese products," and "The popularity of Chinese products indicates that Chinese manufacturing has entered the global high-end product market."

In fact, China was the largest sponsor of this World Cup. According to the British data analysis company 'GlobalData,' the main sponsors of the Qatar World Cup, including Mengniu, Vivo, and Hisense, sponsored a total of $1.395 billion, ranking first. American companies ranked second with a total sponsorship of $1.1 billion.

Lusail Stadium in Doha / Photo by Yonhap News

Meanwhile, the Lusail Stadium in Doha, the capital of Qatar, was jointly constructed by a local Qatari company and China Railway Construction Corporation, and China also supplied 888 electric vehicles and 3,000 buses as means of transportation in Doha. It is also reported that about 70% of various consumer goods such as soccer balls, uniforms, cheering items, and souvenirs were exported by Chinese manufacturers.

On the other hand, China failed to qualify for the finals in this World Cup. On March 30, they suffered a 2-0 defeat against Oman in the final round of the Asian Group B qualifiers. At that time, China had 6 points, ranking 5th out of 6 teams. Their overall record was 1 win, 3 draws, and 6 losses, managing to secure only one win in 10 matches.

China has made massive capital investments to elevate its national soccer team to world-class level by hiring famous coaches and acquiring dozens of overseas football clubs. However, the national team's performance remains modest. Since first reaching the finals in the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, China has only experienced losses in the qualifiers over the past 20 years.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.