The Most Famous

SOCCER PLAYERS from China

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This page contains a list of the greatest Chinese Soccer Players. The pantheon dataset contains 21,273 Soccer Players, 45 of which were born in China. This makes China the birth place of the 61st most number of Soccer Players behind Honduras, and Canada.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Chinese Soccer Players of all time. This list of famous Chinese Soccer Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Chinese Soccer Players.

Photo of Jia Xiuquan

1. Jia Xiuquan (b. 1963)

With an HPI of 46.49, Jia Xiuquan is the most famous Chinese Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 28 different languages on wikipedia.

Jia Xiuquan (simplified Chinese: 贾秀全; traditional Chinese: 賈秀全; pinyin: Jiǎ Xiùquán; born 9 November 1963) is a Chinese football manager and former international player.

Photo of Hao Haidong

2. Hao Haidong (b. 1970)

With an HPI of 44.99, Hao Haidong is the 2nd most famous Chinese Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Hao Haidong (simplified Chinese: 郝海东; traditional Chinese: 郝海東; pinyin: Hǎo Hǎidōng; born 9 May 1970) is a Chinese former international footballer. He currently holds the record for being China's top goalscorer. As a player he represented Bayi Football Team, Dalian Shide and Sheffield United in a career that saw him win six league titles and two Chinese FA Cup. Along with a Chinese Football Association Player of the Year award and three Chinese Jia-A League Top goalscorer awards. Since retiring he had a brief spell at management with Dalian Shide and was the General manager at Hunan Shoking before being Chairman of Tianjin Songjiang, which he left in 2012. Hao married former badminton champion Ye Zhaoying in summer 2019.

Photo of Zheng Zhi

3. Zheng Zhi (b. 1980)

With an HPI of 44.30, Zheng Zhi is the 3rd most famous Chinese Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Zheng Zhi (Chinese: 郑智; pinyin: Zhèng Zhì; born 20 August 1980) is a Chinese professional football manager and former player. he is the currently assistant coach of China. As a player, Zheng played most of his career for Chinese Super League club Guangzhou, becoming their captain and serving also as their caretaker manager in two stints. After starting his career as a defender, Zheng was later moved into a central midfield role by then head coach Zhu Guanghu at Shenzhen Jianlibao and experienced immediate success there by winning the 2004 league title with the club. A move to Shandong Luneng Taishan saw a prolific goal scoring period in his career and he soon became the captain of the Chinese national team, which then led to moves to Charlton Athletic and Celtic. He moved back to China in 2010 and joined Guangzhou Evergrande, making over 300 appearances as captain while helping the club win all major trophies a Chinese club could compete for, including Chinese Super League for a record 8 times and AFC Champions League twice.

Photo of Sun Jihai

4. Sun Jihai (b. 1977)

With an HPI of 43.68, Sun Jihai is the 4th most famous Chinese Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Sun Jihai (Chinese: 孙继海; pinyin: Sūn Jìhǎi; Mandarin pronunciation: [swə́n tɕî xàɪ]; born 30 September 1977) is a Chinese former professional footballer who played in the English Premier League. Sun is one of the most well-known footballers in East Asia, as he is the first East Asian footballer to score in the Premier League when he scored a goal for Manchester City in 2002, and also the first Chinese footballer to score in the UEFA Cup. Sun was a member of the China national team that qualified for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the country's only appearance at the World Cup finals. Sun founded Beijing Haiqiu Technology Company (HQ Sports) in February 2016, while he still played for Beijing Renhe in the China League One division. Subsequently, in December of the same year, Sun ended his 22 years of professional football career by announcing his official retirement in a public event. Also at the same occasion, Sun announced the successful first round funding of his company, led by China Media Capital (CMC), Tencent and Yuan Xun Fund. HQ Sports has now developed to a staff force of more than 100 and with focus on Sports Technology, Media and Datatainment business in China and Worldwide.

Photo of Fan Zhiyi

5. Fan Zhiyi (b. 1969)

With an HPI of 42.55, Fan Zhiyi is the 5th most famous Chinese Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Fan Zhiyi (Chinese: 范志毅; pinyin: Fàn Zhìyì; born 6 November 1969) is a Chinese coach and former international footballer. He played as a defender for Shanghai Shenhua, Crystal Palace, Dundee, Shanghai COSCO Huili, Cardiff City, Buler Rangers and Shanghai Zobon. He was considered a trailblazer in his native homeland when Sun Jihai and he became the first two Chinese footballers to play in the English leagues, joining Crystal Palace in 1998. Internationally, he would go on to play with the China national team in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Fan was also the first player from China to be named AFC Player of the Year. He has since gone on to become a football coach and had his first stint as manager at Shanghai East Asia.

Photo of Sun Wen

6. Sun Wen (b. 1973)

With an HPI of 42.11, Sun Wen is the 6th most famous Chinese Soccer Player.  Her biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Sun Wen (Chinese: 孙雯; pinyin: Sūn Wén; born 6 April 1973) is a Chinese former professional footballer who played as a forward. She previously captained the China national team and the Atlanta Beat of the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA). In 2000, she won the FIFA Female Player of the Century along with Michelle Akers. Sun won both the Golden Ball (top player) and Golden Boot (top scorer) for her performance at the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup. She is considered one of the all-time greats of the women's game.

Photo of Li Weifeng

7. Li Weifeng (b. 1978)

With an HPI of 40.68, Li Weifeng is the 7th most famous Chinese Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Li Weifeng (simplified Chinese: 李玮峰; traditional Chinese: 李瑋峰; pinyin: Lǐ Wěifēng; born 1 December 1978) is a Chinese football manager and former international footballer.

Photo of Li Tie

8. Li Tie (b. 1977)

With an HPI of 40.64, Li Tie is the 8th most famous Chinese Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Li Tie (simplified Chinese: 李铁; traditional Chinese: 李鐵; pinyin: Lǐ Tiě; born 18 May 1977) is a Chinese former professional football coach and player. A defensive midfielder, he represented Liaoning in the Chinese Jia-A League, Everton in the Premier League, Sheffield United in the Football League Championship and Chengdu Blades in the Chinese Super League. At international level, he made 92 appearances scoring six goals for the China national team. He was chosen for the AFC Asian Cup in 2000 and 2007, and for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. After retirement from playing, he started his coaching career as an assistant coach at Guangzhou Evergrande. He moved to the China national team and then Hebei China Fortune where he gained his first coaching position. In 2024, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for bribery.

Photo of Dong Fangzhuo

9. Dong Fangzhuo (b. 1985)

With an HPI of 40.48, Dong Fangzhuo is the 9th most famous Chinese Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Dong Fangzhuo (Chinese: 董方卓; pinyin: Dǒng Fāngzhuó; born 23 January 1985) is a Chinese former professional footballer who played as a forward.

Photo of Wu Lei

10. Wu Lei (b. 1991)

With an HPI of 39.52, Wu Lei is the 10th most famous Chinese Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Wu Lei (Chinese: 武磊; pinyin: Wǔ Lěi; born 19 November 1991) is a Chinese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Chinese Super League club Shanghai Port and the China national team. Wu is widely regarded as one of the best Chinese players of his generation and one of the best Chinese forwards of all time. He is currently the all-time top goalscorer for Shanghai Port with more than 200 goals, and the all-time Chinese Super League top goalscorer with 165 goals. Wu also holds the record for being the youngest player to have appeared in a Chinese professional league match, aged 14 years and 287 days.

People

Pantheon has 68 people classified as Chinese soccer players born between 1963 and 2000. Of these 68, 67 (98.53%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Chinese soccer players include Jia Xiuquan, Hao Haidong, and Zheng Zhi. The most famous deceased Chinese soccer players include Zhang Enhua. As of April 2024, 23 new Chinese soccer players have been added to Pantheon including Li Ming, Li Jinyu, and Ou Chuliang.

Living Chinese Soccer Players

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Deceased Chinese Soccer Players

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Newly Added Chinese Soccer Players (2024)

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