Ma Xiaoxu is busy on two fronts; is Wang Hongliang taking over the U20 women's football team?

Journalist Wang Wei reports. The Chinese women's football team gathered in Wuhan. Since the U17 World Cup will not start until October this year, the Chinese U17 women's team is scheduled to hold a training camp in July. This gave Ma Xiaoxu, the head coach of the Chinese U17 women's team, a time gap to join the senior national team coaching staff as an assistant coach.

The position of head coach of the Chinese U20 women's team may change; Colin Bell, who led the U20 team to the World Cup, may leave.

Ma Xiaoxu, who finished leading the team in the U17 Women's Asian Cup in Suzhou on May 14, did not take a break. On May 18, she returned to the Chinese women's national team as an assistant coach. Facing the role change, she humbly said: "I am here to help, but also to learn."

From a legendary player of the national team to a newcomer on the coaching staff, Ma Xiaoxu's return embodies the legacy of women's football. During her playing career, at the age of 18, Ma Xiaoxu won the Asian Women's Footballer of the Year and AFC Youth Player of the Year awards, helped the Chinese women's team win the Asian Cup, and competed in top-level tournaments like the World Cup and Olympics. After transitioning to coaching, she led the U17 women's team to successfully qualify for the U17 Women's World Cup. Ma Xiaoxu's inclusion in the national team coaching staff can not only provide tactical insights for the senior team but also build a talent bridge between the youth national teams and the senior squad.

The 2026 Morocco U17 Women's World Cup will be held from October 17 to November 7. The Chinese U17 women's team is in Group E, with opponents including the United States, an African representative team, and Samoa. The group situation is currently unclear; it can only be said that opportunities and challenges coexist. When talking about the U17 team's preparation plan, Ma Xiaoxu revealed that the team will gather in July this year to officially prepare for the U17 World Cup.

Regarding the breakthrough of all three Chinese women's national teams qualifying for the World Cup, Ma Xiaoxu has a clear understanding. She believes that the U20 and U17 teams benefited from favorable group draws in the Women's Asian Cup, so qualifying was a normal performance; the real test lies on the World Cup stage. Meanwhile, the senior women's national team's qualification path was more valuable, as they defeated a strong opponent, North Korea, in the Asian Cup group stage, breaking through with solid strength and demonstrating the resilience of Chinese women's football.

The 2026 Poland U20 Women's World Cup will kick off from September 5 to 27 this year. According to the group draw, the Chinese U20 women's team falls into the fiercely competitive Group F, with opponents including Spain, Nigeria, and New Caledonia.

In terms of the strength of the opponents in this group, the difference is clear: the defending powerhouse Spain has top-tier technique and a mature possession system, so advancing from the group is not a problem; the African powerhouse Nigeria is physically strong and has outstanding impact, making it extremely difficult for China to earn points; Oceania's New Caledonia is relatively weak and is expected to become a scoring opportunity for other teams in the group.

Just as the group draw results for the Poland U20 Women's World Cup were announced, news of a change in the coaching position of the Chinese U20 women's team emerged. Recently, it has been reported that British head coach Colin Bell will no longer serve as the head coach of the Chinese U20 women's team. Colin Bell took over the team in October 2024. During his tenure, he led the team to accomplish the core tasks of performing well in the Asian Cup and qualifying for the World Cup. However, in the U20 Women's Asian Cup semifinal, where the team lost 0-2 to Japan, their possession rate was only 31%.

With only about four months left until the start of the U20 Women's World Cup, the team's preparation has entered a critical window. As of May 24, the Chinese Football Association has not made an official announcement regarding whether to change the head coach.

Outside sources say that Wang Hongliang, who is currently serving as an assistant coach of the senior women's national team this year, may be a hot candidate to take over as head coach of the Chinese U20 women's team. A noteworthy detail is that Wang Hongliang did not join the coaching staff of the senior team currently training in Wuhan, which seems to hint that he may have a new role. However, after being contacted, Wang Hongliang said he has not received an invitation yet.

Currently, the preparation time for the U20 women's team is extremely tight. If the change of coach is confirmed, the new coach must quickly get familiar with the players, restructure tactics, and finalize the lineup. After all, Spain is a world-class powerhouse, Nigeria is strong in impact, and it will be difficult for China to advance from the group.