China parted ways with coach Branko Ivankovic on June 14 after the team were eliminated in the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup. The Chinese Football Association (CFA) quickly drew up a list of potential candidates and appointed U20 team coach Dejan Djurjevic as interim coach for the 2025 East Asian Cup in South Korea.

China’s Tianjin Daily highlighted the difficulty the national team faces in securing a coach who meets the expectations of fans.

“The national team’s foundation is weak and they cannot afford to pay high salaries, while the pressure for performance is immense,” the newspaper stated. “World-class coaches have no chance to connect with China from the start.”

The CFA’s budget for coaching staff is between $1.2 million to $1.8 million per year. In contrast, during its peak, the CFA paid Italian coach Marcello Lippi $28 million per year, as reported by France Football. Lippi led the team to the 2006 World Cup victory but parted ways with China in 2019.

Since Lippi’s departure, China have employed less high-profile coaches, including domestic names like Li Tie and Li Xiaopeng, as well as foreign coaches such as Serbia’s Aleksandar Jankovic and Croatia’s Ivankovic.

The CFA is expected to finalize the new coaching staff by September.

The potential candidates include Portuguese coach Paulo Bento, who has managed both Portugal and South Korea; Felix Sanchez, who guided Qatar to the 2022 World Cup and is currently with Al Sadd, and Shin Tae-yong, former Indonesia coach. Bento was previously contacted by the CFA before Ivankovic’s appointment. At that time, Sanchez was coaching Ecuador, and his high salary made him less of an option for China.

Shin, despite rumors of being appointed after Ivankovic’s exit, faced rejection from the Chinese public. Speculation around his appointment gradually faded.

“The new coach will certainly have shortcomings. The question is whether those shortcomings are significant tactical errors like Ivankovic’s, lack of experience like interim coach Djurjevic’s, or biases like Shin Tae-yong’s,” Tianjin Daily noted.

In the 2025 East Asian Cup, China will compete against South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong. In the opening match on July 7, China lost 0-3 to South Korea at the Yongin Mireu Stadium. The team will face Japan on July 12 and Hong Kong on the 15th.