“Chinese soccer fans are a bunch of cowards”.
China’s ‘Zibo.com’ reported on June 26 (South Korea time) that “even inside China, the culture of Chinese fans displayed in the match against South Korea has been criticized.”
Jürgen Klinsmann’s men’s national team defeated the hosts 3-0 in the second match of Group C of the 2026 FIFA Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Second Qualifying Round at the Shenzhen Universiade Sports Center in Shenzhen, China, at 9 p.m. on June 21, thanks to a brace from Son Heung-min and a late goal from Chung Seung-hyun.
From the start of the match, China’s supporters were one-sided, booing Korean players and even booing during the national anthem.
Korea shut down China with skill. In the ninth minute, Hwang Hee-chan won the ball and dribbled before passing to Cho Kyu-sung, who was breaking into the box. Zhu Tianjie, who ran at Cho Kyu-sung, tangled with Chinese goalkeeper Yan Junling and fell to the ground. When Hwang Hee-chan charged again, he tripped over the already fallen Zhu Tian-je’s back foot. The referee awarded a penalty kick.
It was a comedy of errors. It was a scene of China’s own collapse. Son Heung-min stepped up to take the kick and converted with his right foot. It was Son’s 40th goal in A matches. Heung-min performed the “hissing ceremony,” momentarily silencing the 40,000 Chinese home fans.
Usually known to refrain from provocative gestures, there was a reason for Son’s provocative “shhh” gesture to the Chinese crowd. The Chinese home fans not only booed the national anthem before the game, but also sniped at the players with laser points.
Li Xuan, a reporter for China’s Zibo.com, pointed this out on social media and urged Chinese spectators to be more mature. “Please refrain from the immature behavior of booing when other countries’ national anthems are played,” he said.
Li Xuan added: “It is indeed disrespectful to slack off when the Korean national anthem is playing. Would you accept it if the Chinese national anthem was booed in South Korea?” “And please don’t bring laser pointers into the stadium,” he said, defending Son Heung-min’s hissing gesture while pointing out the manners of his own fans. 토토사이트
The comments have sparked further criticism of the behavior of home fans in China. Zibo.com reported, “A well-known Chinese soccer influencer directly criticized Chinese fans. ‘No soccer fan in their right mind thinks that soccer culture is about gathering in the stands and doing things they wouldn’t normally do,’ he wrote on Weibo.”