China U20 Women's Football World Cup 1/8 finals lost to Italy on penalty kick and missed the quarterfinals

China News Service, Beijing, September 17th. On the 16th local time, in the 1/8 finals of the 2026 FIFA U20 Women's World Cup held in Sosnowiec, Poland, the Chinese team tied with the Italian team 1:1 within 120 minutes, but lost in the penalty shootout. In the end, they lost to their opponents with a total score of 5:6 and missed the quarterfinals.

In the group stage, the Chinese team accumulated 4 points with 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss, and advanced as the third place in the group with better results. The Italian team showed a "dark horse" temperament, defeating the United States team, drawing with the Japanese team, and qualifying as the group leader.

In this game, the Italian team has certain advantages in ball control and offense. In the 34th minute, the Italian team broke through the cross from the left. The Chinese team goalkeeper Liu Chen made a save and missed. Appiah succeeded in volleying in front of the goal. The Italian team led 1:0. Liu Chen then made many extraordinary saves to keep the goal.

The Chinese team stepped up its offense in the second half. In the 73rd minute, Wang Dantong passed a high ball from outside the penalty area. Italian goalkeeper Pele accidentally hit the ball into his own goal while diving. The Chinese team equalized the score with this own goal. At the end of the game, the two teams took turns to attack, but both missed opportunities. Both sides failed to score in overtime, and the game entered a penalty shootout.

In the penalty shootout, the Italian team made all five free throws, and the Chinese team hit the first four free throws in sequence. Li Chenyu, who came on the field for the fifth time, kicked the ball away. The Chinese team regretfully lost.

After the game, the captain and goalkeeper of the Chinese U20 women's football team Liu Chen said that it was not easy for the team to equalize the score and go to the penalty shootout, and hoped to go back and summarize the shortcomings.

Wang Jun, head coach of China's U20 women's football team, is proud of his players' aggressiveness. "Maybe we still have a gap in terms of strength, but it doesn't matter, we can take our time. This event is a signal for us to launch a counterattack."