U16 national football team preparations enter sprint stage

Report from this newspaper (Reporter Shen Wei) In order to prepare for the 2026 U17 Asian Cup qualifiers in November this year, the Chinese U16 men’s football team is currently launching a new training session. Comprehensive inspection and reinforcement of the lineup through the warm-up match are the tasks that the Chinese U16 men's football team needs to complete during this training session.

On September 30, the Chinese U16 men’s football team launched a new training session at the Xianghe National Football Training Base to prepare for the 2026 U17 Asian Cup qualifiers to be held in Chongqing in November this year. In this training session, the Chinese U16 men's football team recruited 30 players, including 12 new faces. They were all players who performed well in the men's football finals of the National Games held in early September. In this regard, head coach Toshi Ukishima decided to give these newcomers a chance to perform. If they can pass the inspection, they will be expected to participate in the next game.

After the establishment of the Chinese U16 men's football team, it has always insisted on training the team through high-level competitions. At present, the main structure of the team has been formed, but individual positions still need to be strengthened. During the National Games men's football competition, the Chinese U16 men's football coaching staff was also active in various venues, conducting comprehensive inspections and sorting out players of this age group, indicating that the team has made sufficient preparations for the upcoming U17 Asian Cup qualifiers.

During this training session, the Chinese U16 men’s football team will have two warm-up matches with the Indian team and the North Korean team respectively. Among them, the reason why the Indian team was invited was specially arranged for the Bangladesh team and Sri Lanka team in the same group of qualifiers. On the evening of the 8th, the Chinese U16 men’s football team defeated the Indian team 4:0. The second match between the two teams will be held today.