The Chinese Taipei national football team () represents Taiwan (The Republic of China) in international football and is controlled by the Chinese Taipei Football Association. Despite never qualifying for the FIFA World Cup, Chinese Taipei, then known as Republic of China, reached the semi-finals of the 1960 and 1968 AFC Asian Cups, finishing third in the former. The side also won gold at the 1954 and 1958 Asian Games, although the players in the team originated from British Hong Kong.

History

Formation and early success (1924–1970)

What is now known as Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA) was originally established in mainland China in 1924 as the China Football Association (). It joined FIFA in 1931. Following the conclusion of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the association relocated to Taiwan along with the Republic of China government. On 14 June 1952, FIFA acknowledged that the All-China Sports Federation (), which later established Chinese Football Association () was part of, on People's Republic of China (PRC), not the China Football Association located on Taiwan, was the recognized authority over Chinese Football with their membership dating to 1924. Therefore, all the achievements and records of the ROC team up to 1949 were inherited by the PRC counterpart.

Taiwan was separately admitted as a member of FIFA in June 1954 over the objections of the CFA and the PRC government at the 29th FIFA Congress in Bern. and competed internationally under the names of both "Republic of China" (in AFC and IOC-organized tournaments; Code: ROC) and "Taiwan" (in FIFA-organized tournaments; Code:TAI

In 1970, an agreement between the CTFA and the Hong Kong Football Association ended the eligibility of Hong Kong-based players to represent Taiwan. The national team's performance declined significantly thereafter, and it has not qualified for the AFC Asian Cup or the FIFA World Cup since.

Participation in Oceania Football Confederation (1975–1989)

Due to political conflicts with the PRC, Chinese Taipei was expelled from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Asian Games. As a result, from 1975 to 1989, Chinese Taipei competed as a member of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). During this period, the team struggled to achieve significant results on the international stage.

Return to AFC and modern developments (1989–present)

Chinese Taipei was re-admitted to the AFC in 1989 and to the Olympic Council of Asia in 1990. The national team gradually began rebuilding its international presence but remained a minor footballing nation in Asia.

In recent years, Chinese Taipei experienced a resurgence in form under English coach Gary White, who was appointed in 2017. White implemented modern tactical approaches and launched a global scouting program to identify players of Taiwanese descent abroad. This initiative brought in players such as Tim Chow, Will Donkin, and Emilio Estevez, who contributed to improved performances.

In December 2017, Chinese Taipei hosted and won the CTFA International Tournament, featuring Laos, the Philippines, and Timor-Leste. It marked the national team's first official international trophy in 55 years. Forward Li Mao finished as the tournament's top scorer with four goals.

Under White's leadership, Chinese Taipei won seven consecutive FIFA-recognized matches and advanced to the third round of qualification for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, narrowly missing qualification by one point behind Bahrain and Turkmenistan. White departed in September 2018 to manage the Hong Kong national team.

After White's departure, the team's performance declined. Interim coach Vom Ca-nhum led the squad in the EAFF E-1 Championship qualifying round, but failed to progress further. In 2019, Louis Lancaster, another English coach and former assistant to White, was appointed head coach. However, the team won only one of nine matches that year and suffered heavy defeats during the early stages of qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Lancaster was dismissed in December 2019, and replaced by Vom Ca-nhum, who held an AFC Pro A license and was appointed on a permanent basis.

In October 2023, Chinese Taipei competed in the first round of qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. They defeated Timor-Leste 7–0 on aggregate, advancing to the second round, where they were drawn into Group D alongside Oman, Kyrgyzstan, and Malaysia.

Team image

Kit

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

Stadium

Chinese Taipei played their home matches at the Kaohsiung National Stadium which is able to hold up to 55,000 seating capacity. The stadium, designed by Japanese architect Toyo Ito, makes use of 1 MW of solar cells to provide most of its power needs. The stadium's semi spiral-shaped, like a dragon, is the first stadium in the world to provide power using solar power technology. The solar panels covering the vast external face of the stadium are able to generate most of the power required for its own operation, as well as additional power that can be sent to the grid.

Chinese Taipei used to play their match at the 20,000 capacity stadium Taipei Municipal Stadium which as of now, will be second in line to host the national team matches. On 3 July 2011, the stadium recorded its highest attendance for a football game when Chinese Taipei hosted Malaysia in the first round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification second leg match, when 15,335 spectators attended the game.

Results and fixtures

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

2025

2026

Coaching staff

As of 14 March 2026

{| class = "wikitable"

|-

! style="background:blue;color:white"|Position

! style="background:blue;color:white"|Name

|-

|Head coach

| Matt Ross

|-

|Assistant coach

| Lin Cheng-yi<br /> Graham Harvey

|-

|Goalkeeping coach

| Michael Kraft

|-

|Physical coach

| Nicholas Punchard

|}

Coaching history

thumb|200px|[[Chen Kuei-jen is a former manager of the Chinese Taipei national football team]]

thumb|200px|[[Louis Lancaster became the manager of the Chinese Taipei national football team in 2019]]

:Caretaker managers are listed in italics.

  • Ngan Shing-kwan (1936)
  • Lee Wai Tong (1954–1958)
  • Ho Ying Fun (1966)
  • Pau King Yin (1966, 1968, 1971)
  • Hsu King Shing (1967)
  • Law Pak (1977–1981)
  • Chiang Chia (1981–1985)
  • Lo Chih-tsung (1985–1988)
  • Huang Jen-cheng (1988–1993)
  • Chiang Mu-tsai (1994–2000)
  • Huang Jen-cheng (2000–2001)
  • Lee Po-houng (2001–2005)
  • Edson Silva (2005)
  • Toshiaki Imai (2005–2007)
  • Chen Sing-an (2008–2009)
  • Lo Chih-tsung (2009–2011)
  • Lee Tae-ho (2011)
  • Chen Kuei-jen (2012)
  • Chiang Mu-tsai (2012)
  • Chen Kuei-jen (2013–2016)
  • Toshiaki Imai (2016)
  • Kazuo Kuroda (2016–2017)
  • Reiji Hirata (2017)
  • Gary White (2017–2018)
  • Vom Ca-nhum (2018)
  • Louis Lancaster (2019)
  • Vom Ca-nhum (2020–2021)
  • Yeh Hsien-chung (2021)
  • Yeh Hsien-chung (2022–2023)
  • Gary White (2023–2025)
  • Chen Sing-an (2025)
  • Huang Che-ming (2025)
  • Matt Ross (2025–)

Players

Current squad

The following 23 players were called up for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification – third round against Sri Lanka on 31 March 2026.

Caps and goals updated as of 31 March 2026, after the match against Sri Lanka.

Recent call-ups

The following players also received a call-up within the last twelve months.

<sup>PRE</sup>

<sup>PRE</sup>

Player records

:Players in bold are still active with Chinese Taipei.

Most appearances

thumb|200px|right|Chen Po-liang is Chinese Taipei's top goalscorer and their most capped player.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

|-

!width=30px|Rank

! style="width:150px;"|Player

!width=50px|Caps

!width=50px|Goals

! style="width:100px;"|Period

|-

|1

|align=left|Chen Po-liang

|97

|25

|2006–present

|-

|2

| align="left" |Wu Chun-ching

|74

|12

|2010–present

|-

|3

|align=left|Chen Ting-yang

|65

|5

|2013–present

|-

|4

| align="left" |Chen Yi-wei

|60

|2

|2006–2019

|-

|5

|align=left|Chen Hao-wei

|55

|8

|2011–present

|-

|6

|align=left|Wen Chih-hao

|51

|4

|2012–present

|-

|7

|align=left|Chen Chao-an

|48

|4

|2015–present

|-

|8

|align=left|Pan Wen-chieh

|44

|0

|2012–present

|-

|9

| align="left" |Tsai Hsien-tang

|43

|2

|2000–2012

|-

|10

| align="left" |Lin Chang-lun

|41

|2

|2012–2023

|-

|}

Top goalscorers

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

|-

!width=30px|Rank

! style="width:150px;"|Player

!width=50px|Goals

!width=50px|Caps

!width=50px|Ratio

! style="width:100px;"|Period

|-

|1

|style="text-align:left;"|Chen Po-liang

|25

|95

|

|2006–present

|-

|2

|style="text-align:left;"|Wu Chun-ching

|12

|74

|

|2010–present

|-

|3

|style="text-align:left;"|Chang Han

|10

|27

|

|2008–2012

|-

|rowspan=2|4

|style="text-align:left;"|Lo Chih-an

|9

|37

|

|2007–2012

|-

|style="text-align:left;"|Lo Chih-en

|9

|40

|

|2007–2015

|-

|rowspan=3|6

|style="text-align:left;"|Huang Wei-yi

|8

|18

|

|2004–2010

|-

|style="text-align:left;"|Yiu Cheuk Yin

|8

|37

|

|1954–1964

|-

|style="text-align:left;"|Chen Hao-wei

|8

|55

|

|2011–present

|-

|9

|style="text-align:left;"|Ange Kouamé

|7

|16

|

|2023–present

|-

|rowspan=2|10

|style="text-align:left;"|Yu Yao-hsing

|6

|16

|

|2023–present

|-

|style="text-align:left;"|Chu En-le

|6

|27

|

|2014–2022

|}

Competitions

Champions&nbsp;&nbsp; Runners-up&nbsp;&nbsp; Third place&nbsp;&nbsp;

Fourth place&nbsp;&nbsp;

FIFA World Cup

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|- style="color:white;"

! style="background:#000095; " colspan=10|Chinese Taipei's FIFA World Cup|

! style="background:white" rowspan="5"|

! style="background:#000095; " colspan=7|FIFA World Cup qualification|

|-

!Year

!rowspan=39|

!Round

!Position

!||||||||||||||||||||||

|-

| 1930

|colspan=8 rowspan=3|Not a FIFA member

|colspan=6 rowspan=3|Not a FIFA member

|-

| 1934

|-

| 1938

|-

!

!colspan=16|as

|-

| 1950

|colspan=8 |Not a FIFA member

! style="background:white" rowspan="8"|

|colspan=6 |Not a FIFA member

|-

| 1954

|rowspan=2 colspan=8 |Withdrew

|rowspan=2 colspan=6 |Withdrew

|-

| 1958

|-

| 1962

|rowspan=4 colspan=8 |Did not enter

|rowspan=4 colspan=6 |Did not enter

|-

| 1966

|-

| 1970

|-

| 1974

|-

| 1978

|colspan=8 |Did not qualify

|4

|0

|0

|4

|1

|17

|-

!

!colspan=16|as

|-

| 1982

|rowspan=12 colspan=8 |Did not qualify

! style="background:white" rowspan="25"|

|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

| 8

| 2

| 0

| 6

| 9

| 17

|-

| 2030

|colspan=8 rowspan=2| To be determined

|colspan=8 rowspan=2|To be determined

|-

| 2034

|-

!Total

!

!

!0

!0

!0

!0

!0

!0

!74

!8

!4

!62

!48

!251

|}

Olympic Games record

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

|-

! colspan=9|Summer Olympics Games record

! rowspan="19"|

! colspan=6|Qualification record

|-

! scope="col"|Year

! scope="col"|Round

! scope="col"|

! scope="col"|

! scope="col"|

! scope="col"|

! scope="col"|

! scope="col"|

! scope="col"|

! scope="col"|

! scope="col"|

! scope="col"|

! scope="col"|

! scope="col"|

! scope="col"|

|-

| 1908

|colspan=9 rowspan=5|Did not enter

|colspan=6 rowspan=5|Did not enter

|-

| 1912

|-

| 1920

|-

| 1924

|-

| 1928

|-

| 1936

|colspan=9 rowspan=2|Part of

|colspan=6 rowspan=2|Part of

|-

| 1948

|-

| 1952

|colspan=9 rowspan=2|Did not enter

|colspan=6 rowspan=2|Did not enter

|-

| 1956

|-

| 1960||Group stage||16th||3||0||0||3||3||12

|4||3||0||1||9||4

|-

| 1964

|colspan=9 rowspan=4|Did not qualify

|2||1||0||1||2||2

|-

| 1968

|5||1||0||4||11||18

|-

| 1972

|4||0||0||4||1||19

|-

| 1976

|2||0||0||2||0||5

|-

| 1980||colspan=9|Refused to participate

|colspan=6|Refused to participate

|-

| 1984

|colspan=9 rowspan=2|Did not qualify

|6||0||4||2||5||9

|-

| 1988

|9||1||0||8||8||29

|-

|1992–present

|colspan=15|See Chinese Taipei national under-23 team

|-

!Total

!Group stage||1/17||3||0||0||3||3||12

!

!32

!6

!4

!22

!36

!86

|-

|}

AFC Asian Cup

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|- style="color:white;"

! style="background:#000095; " colspan=10|

! style=";background:white" rowspan="2"|

! style="background:#000095; " colspan=7|

|-

!Year

!rowspan=30|

!Round

!Position

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

|-

!

!colspan=16|as

|-

| 1956||colspan=8 |Did not qualify

!style="background:white" rowspan="6"|

||2||0||0||2||1||4

|- style="background:#c96;"

| 1960||Third place ||3rd||3||1||0||2||2||2

||2||2||0||0||14||8

|-

| 1964||colspan=8 |Withdrew ||colspan=6 |Withdrew

|- style="background:#9acdff"

| 1968||Fourth place||4th||4||0||2||2||3||10

||4||3||1||0||15||4

|-

| 1972||colspan=8 |Withdrew ||colspan=6 |Withdrew

|-

| 1976 ||colspan=8 |Expelled ||colspan=6 |Expelled

|-

!

!colspan=16|as

|-

| 1980 ||rowspan=3 colspan=8 |OFC member

!style="background:white" rowspan="20"|

|rowspan=3 colspan=6 |OFC member

|-

| 1984

|-

| 1988

|-

| 1992 || rowspan="10" colspan="8"|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

| colspan=6 rowspan=2|AFC Challenge Cup

|-

| 2015

|-

| 2019

|18||6||1||11||20||38

|-

| 2023

|10||0||0||10||5||39

|-

| 2027

|14||2||0||12||14||36

|-

!Total||Third place||2/18 ||7 ||1 ||2 ||4 ||5 ||12

!70 ||16 ||3 ||51 ||86 || 184

|}

AFC Challenge Cup

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

!colspan=9|AFC Challenge Cup record

!rowspan=39|

!colspan=6|Qualification record

|-

!Year

!Result

!Position

!

!

!*

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

!

|-

| 2006||Quarter-finals||8th||4||1||2||1||3||5

|colspan=6|No qualification

|-

| 2008||colspan=8 rowspan=4|Did not qualify

|3||1||1||1||7||5

|-

| 2010

|3||1||1||1||7||3

|-

| 2012

|5||1||1||3||6||10

|-

| 2014

|3||0||1||2||2||6

|-

!Total||Quarter-finals||1/5||4||1||2||1||3||5||14||3||4||7||22||24

|-

|}

East Asian Cup

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

|-

!colspan=9|EAFF East Asian Cup record

! rowspan="18" style="width:1" |

!colspan=6|Preliminary round

|-

! width="80" |Year

! width="50" |Result

! width="20" |Position

! width="10" |Pld

! width="10" |W

! width="10" |D

! width="10" |L

! width="10" |GF

! width="10" |GA

! width="10" |Pld

! width="10" |W

! width="10" |D

! width="10" |L

! width="10" |GF

! width="10" |GA

|-

| 2003||colspan=8 rowspan=8| Did not qualify||4|| 3|| 0|| 1|| 13||3

|-

| 2005|| 4|| 1|| 1|| 2|| 9||7

|-

| 2008|| 3|| 2|| 1|| 0|| 18||3

|-

| 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||colspan=8| Did not participate||colspan=6|Not held

|-

| 2025||colspan=8| Did not qualify|| 2|| 1|| 0|| 1||5||2

|-

!Total!! —!!0/9!!–!!–!!–!!–!!–!!–!!32!!13!!4!!15!!73!!57

|}

Asian Games

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

|-

! colspan="8" |Asian Games record

|-

!Year||Position||Pld||W||D||L||GF||GA

|-

| 1951||colspan=7|Did not enter

|-bgcolor=gold

| 1954||rowspan=2|Champions||4||4||0||0||16||6

|-bgcolor=gold

| 1958||5||5||0||0||11||4

|-

| 1962||colspan=7|Withdrew (visas refused)

|-

| 1966||Group stage||3||0||1||2||5||8

|-

| 1970||colspan=7|Did not enter

|-

|1974–1986||colspan=7|Expelled from Asian Games

|-

|1990–1998||colspan=7|Did not enter

|-

|colspan=8|See

|-

!Total||3/13||12||9||1||2||32||18

|}

Head-to-head record

Honours

<!-- DO NOT ADD UNOFFICIAL OR FRIENDLY COMPETITIONS IN THE SUMMARY TABLE FOR OFFICIAL HONOURS ONLY -->

Continental

  • AFC Asian Cup
  • Third place (1): 1960
  • Asian Games<sup>1</sup>
  • Gold medal (2): 1954, 1958

Friendly

  • CTFA International Tournament (1): 2017

Summary

Only official honours are included, according to FIFA statutes (competitions organized/recognized by FIFA or an affiliated confederation).

{| class="wikitable" width=30 style="font-size:90%; text-align:center;"

|-

!Competition !! !! !! !!Total

|-

|align=left|AFC Asian Cup

|0||0||1||1

|-

!Total!!0!!0!!1!!1

|}

;Notes:

  1. Competition organized by OCA, officially not recognized by FIFA.

See also

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

Notes

References

  • Chinese Taipei Football Association official website
  • Chinese Taipei at AFC
  • Chinese Taipei at FIFA
  • Chinese Taipei at 2006 FIFA World Cup official website (archived 12 March 2007)
  • Chinese Taipei national team squad at CTFA official website (archived 10 December 2007)