20 Worst Squads In FIFA World Cup History
11. China (2002)
Lots of facts about the 2002 World Cup go largely forgotten. For example, Portugal being eliminated by the USA, Turkey making it to the semi-finals and the truly terrifying tournament mascots. However, 2002 also saw China make their maiden World Cup appearance.
In honesty, China only qualified because both of Asia’s top teams (South Korea and Japan) qualified automatically as they were tournament co-hosts. Because of their absence, China managed to fend off the likes of Cambodia, Maldives, Oman and Uzbekistan to make their first tournament finals.
Their World Cup inexperience was immediately apparent however, as they suffered three consecutive defeats in the groups. They opened up with a 0-2 loss to Costa Rica, before slumping to a 0-4 loss against Brazil and bowing out with a 0-3 loss to Turkey. China exited the tournament with a -9 goal difference and still to this day have never scored a goal in the World Cup finals.