The Economist.
The 2026 World Cup is in full swing, and Chinese football fans have something to sing about.
But that song isn't for the country's national team.
It's for Ma Ning.
Also known as the card master, Ma Ning is a referee,
and he's China's biggest representative at the 2026 World Cup.
Despite this year's World Cup almost doubling the number of slots open to Asian teams,
China did not make the cut.
It didn't even make it to the fourth round of qualifiers, finishing behind Oman, Indonesia, and Palestine.
To put it politely, this is surprising for a country of 1.4 billion people,
which spends lavishly on the sport, and whose leader is reportedly a big fan.
I'm Jeremy Page, The Economist's chief China correspondent in Taipei.
And I'm Jiehao Chen, our China researcher based in London.
And today on Drum Tower, we're asking: why does China still suck at football?
And what will it take for it to get better?
Hey, Jeremy.
Hi, Jiehao.
How are you doing?
Look at the two of us hosting a football episode.
Who'd have thought?