Chinese Taipei national football team

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.[3]

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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6]

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.[7]

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.[8] 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),[9] 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,[10] 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.[11]

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.

As of January 2023, the official kit supplier is local Taiwanese sports brand Entes.[12]

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

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

2022

Thailand  v  Chinese Taipei

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

2023

Chinese Taipei  v  Thailand

16 June 2023 Friendly	Chinese Taipei	v	Thailand	Kaohsiung, Taiwan
19:00 UTC+8		Report		Stadium: National Stadium

Philippines  v  Chinese Taipei

19 June 2023 Friendly	Philippines	v	Chinese Taipei	Manila, Philippines
				Stadium: Rizal Memorial Stadium

As of 14 December 2022

Players in bold are still active with Chinese Taipei.

Most appearances

Chen Po-liang is Chinese Taipei's top goalscorer and their most capped player.

Rank	Player	Caps	Goals	Period
1	Chen Po-liang	80	25	2006–2019
2	Chen Yi-wei	61	3	2006–2019
3	Wu Chun-ching	58	12	2010–present
4	Chen Ting-yang	54	3	2013–present
5	Chen Hao-wei	49	8	2011–2019
6	Wen Chih-hao	45	4	2012–2019
7	Tsai Hsien-tang	43	2	2000–2012
8	Lo Chih-en	40	9	2007–2015
9	Lu Kun-chi	38	0	2004–2016
10	Lin Chang-lun	37	2	2012–present
	Lo Chih-an	37	9	2007–2012

  Champions    Runners-up    Third place     Fourth place  

FIFA World Cup

Chinese Taipei's FIFA World Cup record											Qualification record
Year		Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930		Did not enter[lower-alpha 1]									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[lower-alpha 1]
1936 to 1948	Part of  China[lower-alpha 2]
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

Main article: Chinese Taipei at the AFC Asian Cup

Chinese Taipei's AFC Asian Cup record											Qualification record
Year		Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pld	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

Further information: 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

• AFC Asian Cup

Third place (1): 1960

• Asian Games

Gold medal (2): 1954, 1958

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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chinese Taipei national association football team.

• Chinese Taipei at 2006 FIFA World Cup official website
• Chinese Taipei Football Association official website (in Chinese)
• Chinese Taipei national team squad at CTFA official website (in Chinese)