Spain beat Argentina 1-0 in extra time to win the 2026 FIFA World Cup at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. It was a tournament full of drama, upsets, and cultural moments – not least in China, where Xiaohongshu streamed all 104 matches for free and Norwegian striker Erling Haaland generated nearly 1.8 billion views on the platform. China’s national team, meanwhile, watched from home. Again. Mark Dreyer has spent nearly two decades trying to explain that paradox.

Mark is the founder of China Sports Insider, author of Sporting Superpower: An Insider’s View on China’s Quest to Be the Best, and one of the most respected English-language journalists covering sport in China. His recent piece in The Economist on the state of Chinese football went viral, laying out why a country with enormous resources, a football-obsessed president, and 1.4 billion people has qualified for the World Cup exactly once – in 2002 – and shows few signs of returning anytime soon.

In this episode, Mark gives his verdict on the 2026 World Cup – the football, the format, and the final. As a dual English-Canadian citizen, he also has personal stakes in two teams: England, who reached the semi-finals before losing to Argentina and finished third with a thrilling 6-4 win over France, and Canada, who bowed out in the round of 16. He breaks down the state of Chinese football at every level – the national team, the domestic league, and the youth development pipeline – and explains why the problems run much deeper than money or political will can fix.

Mark also digs into how China consumed this World Cup differently: Xiaohongshu’s landmark streaming deal, the Haaland phenomenon and what it reveals about how Chinese fans engage with foreign athletes, and whether China will ever host – let alone win – a World Cup of its own.