World Cup bid mooted in new women's blueprint

Chinese women's soccer is kicking off a new era of development.

On Monday a new 13-year plan was unveiled which maps out ways to level up the nation's women's game from grassroots to elite level, with a bid to host the 2031 Women's World Cup also on the agenda.

The blueprint was developed jointly by the General Administration of Sport of China, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance and the Chinese Football Association.

The plan's primary goals are: A comprehensive upgrade of women's soccer's developmental environment in China by 2025; expanding the three-tier professional league to 50 teams; maintaining Team China's position as the top Asian team; reaching the last eight at the 2023 Women's World Cup and 2024 Paris Olympics.

By 2030, the hope is that the "Steel Roses" can be among the world's top teams again, with the specific aim of making the semifinals of the 2027 Women's World Cup and 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

The plan's final step envisages China as an elite women's soccer nation by 2035. The nation will "actively" bid for the 2031 Women's World Cup and the national squad should be a strong medal contender at the 2031 showpiece and the 2032 Olympics.

"Chinese women's soccer has witnessed great growth over the past 10 years. Now we are enjoying a lot more attention from society and we have more and more quality training bases across the nation, as well as quality facilities and training methods," said Team China star Wang Shuang.

"We have a much better system and youth training, as I'm seeing a growing number of girls starting to play soccer. When we didn't have these scientific training facilities and methods, we were actually not clear what we could achieve after a tough training session. We might be tired or unclear about where we were going wrong. It's good that the nation as a whole has been paying more and more attention to sports development."

Not so long ago, Team China was a dominant force in the world, with the Steel Roses winning silver medals at the 1996 Olympics and 1999 World Cup. However, the nation's current squad now finds itself overtaken by European teams following the rapid development of the women's game there. Team China's shocking group-stage exit at the Tokyo Olympics last year highlighted how far the Steel Roses have fallen behind the world's elite teams.

To help close that gap, the new plan outlines seven major tasks over the next decade: Refining the management system, strengthening the construction of the women's national team, upgrading the competition system, continuing to develop youth training, facilitating the growth of women's soccer in schools, developing a better coaching system, and facilitating the development of soccer at grassroots level.

The details of the plan also reveal some ambitious numbers. These include doubling the number of national soccer training bases from 15 to 30, having about 100 universities catering to high-level female soccer-playing students by 2025, and setting up an annual program that sends 100 young talents to play abroad as exchange students or in youth teams.

Wang Shuang is testament to the success of the latter method. The playmaker thrived at French giant Paris Saint-Germain in the past and now stars for Racing Louisville in the United States.

"After Chinese players play in better foreign leagues, we receive a lot more attention. All this attention brings more pressure but, most importantly, it motivates me," said Wang.

"I played in a foreign league for the first time nine years ago, and all these experiences have made me a better player.

"We showed the potential of Chinese women's soccer on the world stage, but we need to recognize the gap and keep improving. The reason why I joined a foreign team again is to keep growing and become a more complete player. That's how I can contribute more to Chinese women's soccer."

With new head coach Shui Qingxia at the helm, the rebuilding Team China squad surprised fans this year by winning the Asian Cup in February and the East Asian Football Championship in July. However, being a dominant force in Asia alone is not enough for the ambitious Steel Roses, who are aiming to deliver more surprises at the Women's World Cup next year when they will face European champion England and highly rated Denmark.

"There's big room for improvement in terms of the overall strength of Team China, and we will encounter all kinds of problems in the journey ahead, such as the coming World Cup. But as a team with great tradition, we for sure will overcome all these. I hope we can repay our supporters with great results," said head coach Shui.

"We need to recognize our position now among the world's teams. And through more competitions, we have to build the team's confidence. No team can always be at its peak, but for our coaches, players and fans, we always hope to achieve the best possible results."