China sacks head coach Branko Ivankovic after World Cup qualifying failure

Coach Branko Ivankovic during a press conference. Photo by CFA

China finished fifth in Group C and missed out on World Cup qualification for the sixth consecutive time. The team won just three of their 10 matches, suffering a devastating 0-1 loss to Indonesia, the lowest-ranked team in the round, on June 5.

As Ivankovic failed to meet the agreed target of reaching the fourth qualifying round in his contract, the CFA has activated the clause to terminate his contract, which was valid until October 2025, without compensation.

The CFA had a meeting with Ivankovic on June 13. A day later, the Croatian coach left China and boarded a flight to Qatar.

Ivankovic took over in February 2024, replacing coach Aleksandar Jankovic. Despite expectations that he would rejuvenate the squad, the former coach of Oman managed only a 30% win rate at the third round of World Cup qualifiers, the third-lowest among Chinese national team managers, only behind Aleksandar Jankovic (27%) and Vladimir Petrovic (29%).

Ivankovic was the eighth coach to lead China in the past decade, reflecting a lack of stability in the team.

According to China Youth Daily, the CFA intends to hire another foreign coach, but an interim manager is expected to lead the team at the upcoming East Asian Cup against South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong.

Once ranked 51st in the FIFA rankings during their 2002 World Cup campaign, China have now slipped to 94th. Despite heavy investment in recent years, the national team continue to lag behind top Asian sides such as Japan, South Korea, Australia, and Iran, and even struggled against Southeast Asian opponents such as Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia.

The third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia, held from September 2024 to June 2025, has seen 10 managerial changes.

In Group C, Indonesia dismissed Shin Tae-yong and hired Dutch coach Patrick Kluivert, while Australia replaced Graham Arnold with Tony Popovic, and Saudi Arabia let go of Euro-winning coach Roberto Mancini in favor of Herve Renard.

In Group A, Uzbekistan parted ways with Srecko Katanec and appointed Timur Kapadze, while the UAE dismissed Paulo Bento, brought in Cosmin Olaroiu, and later replaced him with Julen Lopetegui.

In Group B, Iraq sacked Jesus Casas and hired former Australian coach Graham Arnold. Oman replaced Jaroslav Silhavý with Rashid Jaber, while Palestine replaced Makram Daboub with Ehab Abu Jazar.