The World Cup China is winning off the pitch

China’s national team may not be on the pitch at the FIFA World Cup, but its presence is unmistakable. Across stadiums in the United States, Canada and Mexico, Chinese brands such as Hisense, Lenovo and Mengniu are highly visible – extending influence well beyond sponsorship.

Hisense and Lenovo have built fan zones at World Cup venues to deepen engagement and embed themselves in the fan experience. Lenovo, FIFA’s official technology partner, has gone further by integrating its systems into the tournament’s technical infrastructure. Its Football AI Pro platform provides all 48 teams with advanced match analytics, placing Chinese technology at the core of the global game.

This contrast between absence on the field and prominence off it captures a broader reality. Despite President Xi Jinping’s ambition (Opens in new window) for China to qualify for, host and ultimately win the World Cup, the national men’s team has failed to qualify for more than two decades. Structural weaknesses – political interference, corruption, financial instability and weak grassroots development – continue to undermine performance.

Yet China’s appeal is expanding through alternative pathways. The World Cup shows how influence can be projected not through sporting success but through commercial reach, technological integration and cultural exposure.

The recent global craze for Pop Mart’s Labubu plush toys, a wide-eyed elf-like doll, illustrates the potential of Chinese creativity to capture global interest through organic commercial and cultural production rather than Party-state engineering. But Labubu also shows the limits of viral success. Commercial appeal often succeeds where official messaging fails – audiences resist overt political communication but embrace entertainment and consumer goods. Sustained influence, however, requires deeper narratives and emotional resonance.

A similar dynamic is evident in China’s EV sector. China is the world’s largest EV manufacturer, supplying around 60% of global sales in 2025 (Opens in new window). Yet as a panel of advertisers (Opens in new window) noted, BYD’s TV advertising in Australia has not fully landed: while functional, it lacks emotional depth. Like Labubu, Chinese EVs gain visibility but struggle to forge lasting connections.

Still, it would be a mistake to dismiss the cumulative impact of China’s consumer goods and technology. In markets such as Australia and the United States, Chinese goods and e-commerce platforms are embedded in everyday life, particularly among younger consumers. A 2024 survey (Opens in new window) of 1,000 Americans found nearly a quarter of Gen Z respondents shopped on Chinese marketplaces such as Temu, Shein, TikTok and AliExpress at least once a week. A similar survey of 1000 Australians (Opens in new window) found over 14% do so weekly.

Extended exposure can lead to cultural normalisation, where “Chineseness” becomes associated with cool and creative trends such as Chinamaxxing (Opens in new window). While still niche, such trends suggest a perceptual shift among younger demographics less shaped by historical or geopolitical narratives.

Public opinion data from the 2026 Lowy Institute Poll (Opens in new window) reinforces this generational divide. Younger Australians aged 18–29 (shown using the arrows on the chart below) consistently express more positive views of China than the broader population. Seven in 10 see China as an economic partner (Opens in new window) and are less likely to perceive it as a security threat. They are also slightly more inclined to trust China to act responsibly globally, at 32% compared with 28% of all Australians. Overall sentiment remains cautious, but relative warmth among younger cohorts is notable: 45° compared with 41° for all Australians. The gap is modest, yet warmth among 18–29-year-olds has remained fairly consistent since 2020, dipping to 39° in 2023 before returning to similar levels in 2026.

Exposure alone doesn’t erase concerns about governance, security, or values – consumption-driven appeal may open doors but cannot resolve deeper tensions.

The FIFA World Cup provides a useful lens for understanding this evolution. The pervasive commercial and technological presence of Chinese companies points to a more adaptive strategy. By embedding its brands and systems into shared global experiences – especially one as emotionally charged as football – Chinese firms are positioning themselves within the everyday lives of global audiences. Through sponsorship, infrastructure and fan engagement, they build familiarity, trust and potentially emotional connection.

The challenge ahead is depth – and the role of the Chinese state. Consumer goods are doing much of the work in shaping China’s global image as technologically advanced and sophisticated, amplified by platforms such as FIFA. Yet while this projection of Chinese soft power is indirect and market-driven, the goodwill generated can be undermined by the heavy hand of the Chinese state and geopolitical tensions.

That is the bind that Chinese companies face. Their ability to create deeper connections with global consumers remains overshadowed by an interventionist state. For now, however, they have tapped into something universal: the joy that is embodied in the beautiful game.