Editing China national football team (section)

====Alain Perrin and Gao Hongbo returns====
[[File:China PR national football team training in Tehran 01.jpg|thumb|The Chinese national team in Tehran before a [[2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)|2018 FIFA World Cup qualification]] match against Iran]]
After Camacho, there was [[Alain Perrin]], who finally led China to qualify for the [[2015 AFC Asian Cup]], which also included luck from the Thailand–Lebanon encounter, in which Thailand lost but salvaged an important goal by [[Adisak Kraisorn]] to help improve China's goal difference with the Lebanese.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.the-afc.com/competitions/afc-asian-cup/news/asian-cup-2015-qs-thailand-2-5-lebanon-6892|title=Asian Cup 2015 (Qs): Thailand 2–5 Lebanon|date=2014-03-05|publisher=AFC|access-date=12 November 2020|archive-date=12 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112192451/https://www.the-afc.com/competitions/afc-asian-cup/news/asian-cup-2015-qs-thailand-2-5-lebanon-6892|url-status=live}}</ref> Soon after that, Perrin led China into a series of friendlies, where some positive results against [[North Macedonia national football team|Macedonia]], [[Kuwait national football team|Kuwait]], [[Paraguay national football team|Paraguay]] and Thailand boosted some optimism.

In the [[2015 AFC Asian Cup]], Perrin's China was placed in a group with Saudi Arabia, [[Uzbekistan national football team|Uzbekistan]] and [[North Korea national football team|North Korea]]. China emerged victoriously in all three games, qualified for the knockout stage for the first time since the 2004 edition.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|date=2015-01-10|title=Penalty save helps China shock Saudi Arabia at Asian Cup|url=http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jan/10/south-korea-oman-match-report|access-date=2022-02-13|website=[[The Guardian]]|language=en|archive-date=15 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220215001106/https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jan/10/south-korea-oman-match-report|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-18/china-completes-perfect-asian-cup-group-stage/6024030|title = China beats North Korea to complete perfect Asian Cup group stage|newspaper = ABC News|date = 18 January 2015|access-date = 12 November 2020|archive-date = 22 October 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201022192635/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-18/china-completes-perfect-asian-cup-group-stage/6024030|url-status = live}}</ref> The Chinese Dragons then lost to host Australia 0–2 with [[Tim Cahill]] scoring a brace.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jan/22/asian-cup-china-australia-match-report|title=Tim Cahill double against China sends Australia into Asian Cup semi-finals|date=2015-01-22|work=The Guardian|access-date=12 November 2020|archive-date=12 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170812133923/https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jan/22/asian-cup-china-australia-match-report|url-status=live}}</ref>

Despite this, China's [[2018 FIFA World Cup qualification|2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers]] immediately represented a huge problem for the Chinese side; they were held goalless by Hong Kong at home twice, and lost to Qatar. Perrin was sacked for the team's poor performance at the [[2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC second round|middle of the second round]] following another goalless draw to Hong Kong,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-soccer-asia-china-perrin/china-dismiss-head-coach-perrin-idUKKBN0UM0E820160108|title=China dismiss head coach Perrin|newspaper=Reuters|date=8 January 2016|access-date=26 April 2019|archive-date=6 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210306015332/https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-soccer-asia-china-perrin/china-dismiss-head-coach-perrin-idUKKBN0UM0E820160108|url-status=live}}</ref> and former coach [[Gao Hongbo]] returned to the role on 3 February 2016, where he had to face a task of guiding China in at the expense of North Korea which had a better second-place ranking than China. Gao's first two matches were consecutive wins against Maldives and Qatar, and with North Korea suddenly slipping out against the Philippines, these results secured the team's passage to the [[2019 AFC Asian Cup]] and entering [[2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC third round|the final qualifying stage for the World Cup]].

China continued their World Cup hunt by a 2–3 defeat to South Korea;<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/south-korea-3-china-2-hosts-hang-claim-winning-start| title=South Korea 3 China 2: Hosts hang on to claim winning start| date=September 2016| publisher=FourFourTwo| access-date=23 July 2018| archive-date=23 July 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723182226/https://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/south-korea-3-china-2-hosts-hang-claim-winning-start| url-status=live}}</ref> and a goalless draw to AFC's then highest ranked Iran at home.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.foxsportsasia.com/football/511279/china-held-iran-world-cup-qualifier/ | title=China held by Iran in World Cup qualifier| date=6 September 2016|url-status=dead|archive-date=2018-07-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723182530/https://www.foxsportsasia.com/football/511279/china-held-iran-world-cup-qualifier/}}</ref> However, China followed that with a 0–1 loss at home to Syria and 0–2 away to Uzbekistan next month. Gao Hongbo resigned. His team had been winless in the first four matches of the final qualifying stage for the World Cup, including a home loss to Syria which was criticised by a number of fans.<ref>{{Cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-37582501| title=Chinese fans angry over loss to Syria| work=BBC News| date=7 October 2016| access-date=21 July 2018| archive-date=11 October 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011180055/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-37582501| url-status=live}}</ref>