Twenty years ago, China were a Kristine Lilly goal line intervention away from claiming their first World Cup. They’d finished fourth at the 1995 World Cup, and things were looking up after a loss in the 1999 final. But in recent times, things have not been rosy for the Steel Roses. They went out of both the 2015 World Cup and 2016 Olympics in the quarterfinal stage, and they haven’t finished better than third at the AFC Asian Cup since 2008.
The Team
26 players are on the road to France.