Chinese Taipei national football team facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Chinese Taipei

Association	Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA) 中華民國足球協會
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Sub-confederation	EAFF (East Asia)
Head coach	Yeh Hsien-chung
Captain	Wu Chun-ching
Most caps	Chen Po-liang (80)
Top scorer	Chen Po-liang (25)
Home stadium	Taipei Municipal Stadium Kaohsiung National Stadium
FIFA code	TPE
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	124 (7 February 2019)
Highest	121 (April–May 2018)
Lowest	191 (June 2016)
Elo ranking
Current	194 1 (3 March 2019)
Highest	60 (September 1965)
Lowest	213 (12 March 2015)
First international
Official  Republic of China 3–2 South Vietnam  (Manila, Philippines; 1 May 1954)
Biggest win
Guam 0–10 Chinese Taipei  (Taipa, Macau; 17 June 2007)
Biggest defeat
Kuwait 10–0 Chinese Taipei  (Al Ain, United Arab Emirates; 9 November 2006)
Asian Cup
Appearances	2 (first in 1960)
Best result	Third place (1960)
AFC Challenge Cup
Appearances	1 (first in 2006)
Best result	Quarter-finals (2006)

The Chinese Taipei national football team represents Taiwan (the Republic of China) in international football and is controlled by the Chinese Taipei Football Association. Despite never qualifying for the FIFA World Cup, Chinese Taipei, then known as Republic of China, reached the semi-finals of the 1960 and 1968 AFC Asian Cups, finishing third in the former. The side also won gold at the 1954 and 1958 Asian Games, although the players in the team originated from British Hong Kong.

History

The Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA) was founded in Mainland China as the China Football Association (CFA) in 1924 and relocated to Taiwan in 1949 at the end of the Chinese Civil War. Affiliated with FIFA in 1932 as China, the country rejoined FIFA in 1954, first under the name Taiwan, then renaming to Chinese Taipei in 1980.

The team's greatest success came when they finished third at the AFC Asian Cup in 1960 as Taiwan. However, the players in the team originally came from Hong Kong, despite the Hong Kongese national team not being one of the best in Asia.

Due to the political conflict with the People's Republic of China (China PR), Taiwan, now known as Chinese Taipei, was part of the Oceania Football Confederation and participated in the Oceanian World Cup qualifiers from 1975 to 1989.

Chinese Taipei reached their highest FIFA World Ranking of 121st in July 2018, under the guidance of renowned English coach Gary White. Since his arrival in the autumn of 2017, White's strategies aimed not only to improve the national team, but also the standards of football on the island. An extended scouting operation looking for talents of Taiwanese heritage from abroad was also part of his plans. The cast proved to be successful when players such as Tim Chow, Will Donkin and Emilio Estevez were tapped in for the national team.

In December 2017, Chinese Taipei hosted the CTFA International Tournament, an A-level competition that also included Laos, the Philippines and Timor-Leste. It was created to test the country's team in preparation for international friendlies and tournaments in future years. Chinese Taipei won all of their three games, winning the mini-tournament and their first official international trophy in 55 years. Thanks to the four goals he scored (two of which in the final match against Laos), striker Li Mao was deemed as the competition's top scorer.

White led a successful period for the Chinese Taipei, including winning 7 FIFA international games in a row. Charged with taking Taiwan to their first AFC Asian Cup since 1968, White had taken over the guide of the national team halfway through the qualification campaign: eventually, he brought them to the third round of the qualifiers, missing a spot to the tournament (in favour of Bahrain and Turkmenistan) by just one point. White was then offered a contract by the Hong Kong national team and left his role in Taiwan in September 2018.

Following the Englishman's departure, Taiwan went on a severe lack of satisfaction during the following year. Vom Ca-nhum, employed as a caretaker manager while he was guiding the Chinese Taipei U19 squad, had not been able to qualify his side to the final round of the EAFF E-1 Football Championship (even though they won their match against Mongolia). Then, another Englishman, Louis Lancaster, who previously assisted Gary White during his time on the island, was appointed as the main coach to take his first senior management position. However, things got even worse for the Chinese Taipei: in 2019, the team won just one out of the nine matches they played (a 2–0 win in a friendly against Hong Kong), and they were prematurely eliminated from the continental qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, losing all of their first five games and getting thrashed by Australia (1–7), Kuwait (9–0) and Jordan (5–0). Following the shocking results in the first phase of the qualifiers, Lancaster was sacked in December 2019, and the federation soon decided to hire Vom Ca-nhum again, this time on a full basis, as he was one of the few coaches on the island to have already gained an AFC Pro A coaching license.

Stadium

Many of the team's home matches were played in the Chungshan Soccer Stadium in Taipei, which was closed in 2008. The stadium's capacity was slightly above 20,000 and is a football specific stadium.

The qualification match for 2012 AFC Challenge Cup in February 2011 was played on Kaohsiung National Stadium, while the qualification match for 2014 FIFA World Cup in July 2011 was played at Taipei Municipal Stadium.

Kit

The official kit supplier is currently produced by ANGO since 2019, a local sports brand in Taiwan.

Recent results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results from the previous 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

      Win       Draw       Lose

2022

Friendly 14 December 2022 (2022-12-14)	Thailand	0–1	Chinese Taipei	Pathum Thani, Thailand
20:30 UTC+7			Chen  72'	Stadium: Thammasat Stadium Referee: Mohd Amirul Izwan bin Yaacob (Malaysia)

Coaching staff

Position	Name
Technical director	Yen Shih-kai
General manager	Fang Ching-jen
Head coach	Yeh Hsien-chung
Team manager	Wong Kui-ho
Assistant coach	Kwok Chui-fong Cheng Chui-yun Tan Rui-ping
Goalkeeping coach	Tok Fung-hui
Fitness coach	Hsien Ting-Kai
Match analyst	Tsai Min-yui
Doctor	Chan Xing-ren
Physiotherapist	Liu Chen-pei

Coaching history

Caretaker managers are listed in italics.

Players

Current squad

• The following players were called up for the friendly match.
• Match dates: 14 December 2022
• Opposition:  Thailand
• Caps and goals correct as of: 11 October 2021, after the match against  Indonesia.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1GK	Shih Shin-an	(1992-10-10) 10 October 1992 (age 31)	5	0	Leopard Cat
	1GK	Pan Wen-chieh	(1992-06-29) 29 June 1992 (age 31)	32	0	Taichung FUTURO
	1GK	Chiu Yu-hung	(1994-08-31) 31 August 1994 (age 29)	20	0	Taipower
	2DF	Lin Chih-hsuan	(1996-07-17) 17 July 1996 (age 27)	0	0	Leopard Cat
	2DF	Li Chun-chia	(1993-05-11) 11 May 1993 (age 30)	2	0	Taipower
	2DF	Cheng Hao	(1997-01-13) 13 January 1997 (age 26)	7	0	Taichung FUTURO
	2DF	Yen Ho-shen	(1990-12-31) 31 December 1990 (age 32)	19	2	Taipower
	2DF	Liang Meng-hsin	(2003-04-03) 3 April 2003 (age 20)	4	0	Taichung FUTURO
	2DF	Chao Ming-hsiu	(1997-07-09) 9 July 1997 (age 26)	3	0	Taipower
	2DF	Hsieh Po-an	(1994-11-03) 3 November 1994 (age 29)	5	0	Taipower
	2DF	Chen Ting-yang	(1999-01-02) 2 January 1999 (age 24)	6	0	Taichung FUTURO
	2DF	Chen Wei-chuan	(1992-09-28) 28 September 1992 (age 31)	53	3	Taiwan Steel
	3MF	Lin Chang-lun	(1991-06-28) 28 June 1991 (age 32)	33	2	Taipower
	3MF	Lai Chih-hsuan	(1995-07-29) 29 July 1995 (age 28)	2	0	Taipower
	3MF	Wu Chun-ching	(1988-12-18) 18 December 1988 (age 34)	55	11	Taichung FUTURO
	3MF	Lan Hao-yu	(1999-01-13) 13 January 1999 (age 24)	0	0	Leopard Cat
	3MF	Chen Hung-wei	(1997-09-28) 28 September 1997 (age 26)	3	0	Taichung FUTURO
	3MF	Chen Jui-chieh	(1995-07-15) 15 July 1995 (age 28)	11	0	Taiwan Steel
	3MF	Yao Ko-chi	(1996-05-15) 15 May 1996 (age 27)	0	0	Taiwan Steel
	3MF	Tu Shao-chieh	(1999-01-02) 2 January 1999 (age 24)	6	0	Taichung FUTURO
	3MF	Hung Tzu-kuei	(1993-06-01) 1 June 1993 (age 30)	24	0	Taipower
	3MF	Gao Wei-jie	(1997-06-24) 24 June 1997 (age 26)	3	1	Taipower
	4FW	Chen Chao-an	(1995-06-22) 22 June 1995 (age 28)	30	3	Taipower
	4FW	Onur Dogan	(1987-09-08) 8 September 1987 (age 36)	27	6	Taichung FUTURO
	4FW	Ko Yu-ting	(1994-01-18) 18 January 1994 (age 29)	13	0	Taipower

Recent call-ups

The following players also received a call-up within the last twelve months.

Player records

Players in bold are still active with Chinese Taipei.

Competition history

     Champions       Runners-up       Third place        Fourth place  

World Cup record

FIFA World Cup record										Qualification record
Year	Round	Ranking	M	W	D	L	GF	GA		M	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930	Did not enter									Did not exist
1934
1938
1950	Did not enter									Did not enter
1954	Withdrew									Withdrew
1958
1962	Did not enter									Did not enter
1966
1970
1974
1978	Did not qualify									4	0	0	4	1	17
1982										8	1	3	4	5	8
1986										6	0	0	6	1	36
1990										2	0	0	2	1	8
1994										6	0	0	6	3	31
1998										6	1	1	4	4	13
2002										6	0	0	6	0	25
2006										8	2	0	6	9	27
2010										2	0	0	2	0	11
2014										2	1	0	1	4	4
2018										8	1	0	7	7	20
2022										8	0	0	8	4	34
2026	To be determined									To be determined
Total		0/22	0	0	0	0	0	0		66	6	4	56	39	234

Olympic Games record

Year	Result	Pos	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1900 to 1928	Did not enter
1936 to 1948	Part of  China
1952	Did not enter
1956
1960	First round	16	3	0	0	3	3	12
1964 to 1976	Did not qualify
1980	Refused to participate
1984	Did not qualify
1988
1992 to present	See  Chinese Taipei U23

AFC Asian Cup record

AFC Asian Cup record										AFC Asian Cup qualification
Year	Round	Ranking	M	W	D	L	GF	GA		M	W	D	L	GF	GA
1956	Did not qualify									2	0	0	2	1	4
1960	Third place	3rd	3	1	0	2	2	2		2	2	0	0	14	8
1964	Withdrew									Withdrew
1968	Fourth place	4th	4	0	2	2	3	10		4	3	1	0	15	4
1972	Withdrew									Withdrew
1976	Expelled									Expelled
1980	OFC Member									OFC Member
1984
1988
1992	Did not qualify									3	0	1	2	0	8
1996										3	1	0	2	10	10
2000										6	1	0	5	3	11
2004										2	1	0	1	4	2
2007										6	0	0	6	0	24
2011										AFC Challenge Cup
2015
2019										18	6	1	11	20	38
2023										10	0	0	10	5	39
2027	To be determined									To be determined
Total	Third place	2/18	7	1	2	4	5	12	56	14	3	39	72	148

AFC Challenge Cup record

Year	Round	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
2006	Quarter-finals	4	1	2	1	3	5
2008	Did not qualify
2010
2012
2014
Total	Quarter-finals	4	1	2	1	3	5

East Asian Cup

EAFF East Asian Cup record										Preliminary round
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
2003	Did not qualify									4	3	0	1	13	3
2005										4	1	1	2	9	7
2008										2	1	1	0	11	1
2010										3	1	0	2	5	8
2013										4	0	1	3	2	17
2015										3	0	1	2	1	3
2017										6	4	0	2	17	9
2019										3	1	0	2	3	5
2022	Did not participate									Not held
Total	—	0/8	–	–	–	–	–	–		29	11	4	14	61	53

Asian Games

Asian Games record
Year	Ranking	M	W	D	L	GF	GA
1951	Did not enter
1954	Champions	4	4	0	0	16	6
1958	Champions	5	5	0	0	11	4
1962	Banned
1966	Group Stage	3	0	1	2	5	8
1970	Did not enter
1974-1986	Banned
1990-1998	Did not enter
See  Chinese Taipei U23
Total	3/13	12	9	1	2	32	18

See also

In Spanish: Selección de fútbol de China Taipéi para niños

• List of Taiwanese footballers
• Chinese Taipei national futsal team
• Chinese Taipei women's national football team