World
With no team in World Cup, China fans root for Ronaldo, Messi … and a referee
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On a sunny day in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighbourhood, punters piled into the fifth floor of Time Out Market to Portugal House – part food court, part bar, full-blown World Cup party.
The room was awash with Portuguese team jerseys, filled with fans sipping cold beer and soft drinks, proudly singing Portugal’s national anthem before their match against DR Congo.
“Hopefully, one day I can sing the Chinese national song in a World Cup stadium,” said Zhai Yibo, a 20-year-old Chinese student studying in London who was watching the game in Brooklyn.
Among the hundreds of thousands of fans who travelled to North America for the World Cup are countless Chinese supporters. Yet while China remains one of the world’s largest football markets, its presence at the tournament is largely confined to the stands.
Twenty-four years after its only World Cup appearance, the national team once again failed to qualify for this year’s showpiece, leaving fans to celebrate football’s biggest event while watching other countries compete.
The United States, Canada, and Mexico are jointly hosting this year’s World Cup, with 48 countries competing in games across 16 cities. It is the first North American World Cup since 1994 and the first to be hosted by the three nations together.
