China–Japan football rivalry

China–Japan football rivalry

Teams	China PR  Japan
First meeting	Japan 0–5 China Far East Asian Games Tokyo (9 May 1917)
Latest meeting	China 0–2 Japan 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification Doha (27 January 2022)
Next meeting	TBD
Statistics
Meetings total	40
Most wins	Japan (17)
Largest victory	Japan 0–5 China Far East Asian Games Tokyo (9 May 1917) China 5–0 Japan Nehru Cup Kochi (31 January 1983)

The China–Japan football rivalry is a competitive sports rivalry that exists between the national football teams of the two countries, as well as their respective sets of fans.

The rivalry has a long history exists between China and Japan. One of the main reason defining the heat of the serious rivalry exists between two countries is due to historical grievances throughout history of two nations.^[1] Two national teams faced up for the first time in 1917, and since then, had played against each other 38 times. Historical tensions had also stemmed the rivalry into one of the most heated rivalry in Asia and a bitter rivalry in the world.

Background[]

China and Japan shared a relatively long and complicated history. Japan used to be under moderate Chinese influence throughout history, and is part of Sinosphere world. However, Japan often had desires to conquer China and to become new Asian leader. The Japanese tried to invade China via. Korea during the Japanese invasion to Korea, but no avail. In 19th century, Japan transformed from a feudal state into an empire with modern industries, defeating China in the First Sino-Japanese War. This made Japan the dominant Asian power.

Japan and China's tensions escalated into the Second Sino-Japanese War, which Japan invaded and occupied entire of Eastern and Southern China, committing horrible atrocities such as Nanking Massacre. As for the result, relations between two nations has been tense since and with the recent rise of China after years of humiliation, rivalry has become tenser.

Thus, football is not an exception, when both fans used football to fuel the nationalistic ideas.

Men's matches[]

Prior to 1990s, China was one of Asia's dominant teams while Japan's football development was still limited in amateur level, partly due to little interests of development for football in Japan. Thus, Japan often suffered defeats to China. But with the rapid rise of Japan since 1990s, the tie has changed from China to Japan, and since 1998, China has not beaten Japan again.

Despite the record of China and Japan each having 15 wins, Japan is far more successful than China, winning four AFC Asian Cup and has played in every FIFA World Cup since 1998; while China only won silver medals in two Asian Cup and qualified for just one World Cup.

#	Date	Venue	Competition	Home team	Score	Away team	Goals (home)	Goals (away)
1	9 May 1917	, Tokyo	Far Eastern Championship Games	Japan	0–5	China		Guo 3', 22', Guan 28', Tang 30', -'
2	1 June 1921	Shanghai	Far Eastern Championship Games	China	4–1	Japan
3	24 May 1923	Osaka	Far Eastern Championship Games	Japan	1–5	China
4	20 May 1925	Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila	Far Eastern Championship Games		0–2			Lee Wai Tong -', -'
5	27 August 1927	Zhonghua Stadium, Shanghai	Far Eastern Championship Games	China	5–1	Japan	Suen Kam Shun 19', 30', Kai Bingfen 21', -', 73'	Misao Tamai 41'
6	30 May 1930	Meiji Jingu Gaien Stadium, Tokyo	Far Eastern Championship Games	Japan	3–3	China	Shiro Teshima 23', Tadao Takayama 57', Hideo Shinojima 73'	Suen Kam Shun 40', Chan Kwong Yiu 60', Dai Linjing 70'
7	20 May 1934	Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila	Far Eastern Championship Games	China	4–3	Japan	Tam Kong Pak 6', 11', Lee Wai Tong 65', 76' (pen.)	Akira Nozawa 60', 72', Takeshi Natori 74'
8	1 May 1966	Unknown	Friendly	Japan	1–2	China
9	23 June 1975	Government Stadium, Hong Kong	1976 AFC Asian Cup qualification	China	2–1	Japan	6', 20'	Kozo Arai 43'
10	11 June 1980	Tianhe Stadium, Guangzhou	Friendly		1–0		67'
11	26 December 1980	Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong	1982 FIFA World Cup qualification		1–0		Rong Zhihang 7'
12	2 June 1981	Omiya Football Stadium, Saitama	Friendly	Japan	0–0	China
13	30 September 1981	Singapore	Lion City Cup	Japan	2–0	China
14	31 January 1983	Kochi	Nehru Cup	China	5–0	Japan
15	31 May 1984	Omiya Football Stadium, Saitama	Kirin Cup	Japan	1–0	China	Hisashi Kato 84' (pen.)
16	27 July 1986	Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur	Merdeka Cup		4–2		Hisashi Kaneko 8', 55', Hiromi Hara 75', Satoshi Tezuka 76'	44', 77'
17	2 June 1988	, Nagoya	Kirin Cup	Japan	0–3	China		Wang Baoshan 24', Gao Sheng 41', Ma Lin 45'
18	10 May 1990	Nishigaoka Stadium, Tokyo	Friendly	Japan	2–2	China	Tomoyuki Kajino 17', Osamu Maeda 56'	14' (o.g.), 63'
19	13 May 1990	Okayama Stadium, Okayama	Friendly	Japan	2–0	China	Osamu Maeda 26', Mitsunori Yoshida 40'
20	29 July 1990	Workers' Stadium, Beijing	Dynasty Cup	China	1–0	Japan	Wu Qunli 77'
21	24 August 1992	Workers' Stadium, Beijing	Dynasty Cup	China	0–2	Japan		Masahiro Fukuda 38', Takuya Takagi 82'
22	6 November 1992	Hiroshima Stadium, Hiroshima	Asian Cup	Japan	3–2	China	Masahiro Fukuda 48', Tsuyoshi Kitazawa 57', Masashi Nakayama 84'	Xie Yuxin 1', Li Xiao 70'
23	18 May 1993	Shanghai	East Asian Games	China	3–2	Japan
24	23 February 1995	Mong Kok Stadium, Hong Kong	Dynasty Cup	Japan	2–1	China	Toshiya Fujita 16', Hisashi Kurosaki 22'	Gao Feng 55'
25	12 December 1996	Tahnoun bin Mohamed Stadium, Al Ain	Asian Cup		1–0		Naoki Soma 90'
26	7 March 1998	National Stadium, Tokyo	Dynasty Cup	Japan	0–2	China		Li Bing 9', 50'
27	15 March 2000	Universiade Memorial Stadium, Kobe	Friendly	Japan	0–0	China
28	26 October 2000	Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Beirut	Asian Cup	China	2–3	Japan	Qi Hong 30', Yang Chen 48'	Fan Zhiyi 21' (o.g.), Akinori Nishizawa 53', Tomokazu Myojin 61'
29	8 October 2002	Masan Stadium, Changwon	Asian Games		0–1			Satoshi Nakayama 60'
30	4 December 2003	National Stadium, Tokyo	EAFF Championship	Japan	2–0	China	Tatsuhiko Kubo 4', 80'
31	7 August 2004	Workers' Stadium, Beijing	Asian Cup	China	1–3	Japan	Li Ming 31'	Takashi Fukunishi 22', Koji Nakata 65', Keiji Tamada 90+1'
32	3 August 2005	Daejeon World Cup Stadium, Daejeon	EAFF Championship	Japan	2–2	China	Teruyuki Moniwa 59', Tatsuya Tanaka 87'	Li Jinyu 37', Zhang Yonghai 43'
33	20 February 2008	Chongqing Olympic Sports Center, Chongqing	EAFF Championship	China	0–1	Japan		Koji Yamase 17'
34	6 February 2010	Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo	EAFF Championship	Japan	0–0	China
35	21 July 2013	Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul	EAFF Championship		3–3		Yuzo Kurihara 32', Yoichiro Kakitani 59', Masato Kudo 60'	Wang Yongpo 4' (pen.), 80' (pen.), Sun Ke 86'
36	9 August 2015	Wuhan Sports Center Stadium, Wuhan	EAFF Championship	China	1–1	Japan	Wu Lei 10'	Yuki Muto 41'
37	12 December 2017	Ajinomoto Stadium, Chōfu	EAFF Championship	Japan	2–1	China	Yu Kobayashi 84', Gen Shōji 88'	Yu Dabao 90+3'
38	10 December 2019	Busan Gudeok Stadium, Busan	EAFF Championship	China	1–2	Japan	Dong Xuesheng 90'	Musashi Suzuki 29', Genta Miura 70'
39	7 September 2021	Khalifa International Stadium, Doha (Qatar)[2]	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification	China	0–1	Japan		Yuya Osako 40'
40	27 January 2022	TBD	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification	Japan	TBD	China

As of 7 September 2021

Men's statistics[]

As of 7 September 2021

Women's matches[]

This section needs expansion. You can help by . (September 2021)

#	Date	Venue	Competition	Home team	Score	Away team	Goals (home)	Goals (away)
	14 December 2019	Busan Gudeok Stadium, Busan	2019 EAFF E-1 Football Championship	China	0–3	Japan		Iwabuchi 9', 44', 56'

As of 30 August 2021

Women's statistics[]

This section needs expansion. You can help by . (September 2021)

As of 30 August 2021

See also[]

• China–Japan relations

References[]