Chinese girls make history! For the first time, they have reached the knockout stage of the U17 Women's World Cup and will face Brazil's women's team.

Special contributor / Jin Cuo On the evening of the 24th Beijing time, the Chinese U17 women's team defeated Ecuador 4-0 in their last group game of the U17 Women's World Cup, qualifying as the second place in their group and making their debut in the knockout rounds. Next, they will play against Brazil, the second-place team from Group A, in the round of 16.

Wang Hongliang took over the team in October 2024 and has conducted eight training camps so far. Although the team had few warm-up matches early on, most players participated in the National Games and maintained good form.

In their first match, the U17 women's team won 5-0 against Norway, thrilling fans; in the second round against the USA, coach Wang Hongliang did not play defensively but deployed a single defensive midfielder formation to engage in open attacking play. Technically, the U17 team was on par, with Zhou Xinyi scoring the opening goal. However, in terms of physicality and tackling strength, the girls were at a clear disadvantage, with defensive lapses leading to conceding five goals and a 2-5 loss. From the first two games, their offensive performance was stronger, showing good teamwork and finishing ability.

Against Ecuador, the U17 team faced little pressure—before the match, various calculations suggested that a draw would secure advancement, and even a loss would likely qualify them. Wang Hongliang stated, "We won't just aim for a draw; we want to show proper attacking intent." In fact, his goal has always been to qualify among the top two in the group, saying, "We won't think about finishing third in the group—that's not what we want."

The starting lineup for the first two games was identical, but in this match, Wang Hongliang made four changes: Cai Xinlin, Yang Yuxuan, Xu Xiaotang, and Fang Zhenzhu replaced Zhou Yajie, Chen Jueying, Zhang Kezan, and Chen Junji, while Song Yu, Niu Ziqi, and Zhou Xinyi remained starters.

From the match, the U17 women's team fully controlled the tempo. Facing Ecuador, who were physically weaker, they played actively and pressed high in the attacking third. The coaching staff also enriched the attacking tactics, especially set-piece strategies. Ultimately, the U17 team won 4-0 decisively and advanced with pride.

The first goal came in the 11th minute when Zhou Xinyi spun past three defenders and curled the ball into the corner. Even the FIFA commentators exclaimed, "That's beautiful!" about the goal.

This was Zhou Xinyi's fourth goal of the tournament. In the first match against Norway, she scored twice and provided an assist; the team's opening goal was also created by her free kick. In the rainy second match against the USA, she dribbled to the edge of the box and curled a left-footed shot into the corner in the 12th minute to open the scoring. In this match, she had a chance to score twice again but missed a penalty in the second half. Nonetheless, her performance remained impressive.

Zhou Xinyi’s goal against the USA team

Zhou Xinyi hails from Shanghai Women's Football and started at Putuo Football School. Besides the U17 team, she has also been selected for the U20 women's team. In the previous 15th National Games U18 women's event, Shanghai won the championship, with Zhou Xinyi scoring 7 goals to earn the Golden Boot, including the opening goal in the final against Jiangsu.

Zhou Xinyi began her career as a forward. She describes her playing style as "small, quick, and agile." Compared to acting as a pivot, she prefers running, dribbling, making forward runs, and taking on defenders, especially running "short straight lines." Zhou says she has been improving, becoming more skilled and mentally mature compared to last year. She used to be very competitive and sometimes impatient, but now she feels "much better."

Although Zhou Xinyi has not yet played in the Women's Super League, she hopes to go abroad, with the Premier League as her first choice because she especially likes Manchester City; her second choice is Spain, attracted by their technical style. Notably, her idol is Cristiano Ronaldo, admired not only for his skills but also for his fighting spirit. Besides playing overseas, Zhou aims to join the senior national team before turning 20 and dreams of representing China in the World Cup and the Olympics.

Coach Wang Hongliang has placed great trust in Zhou Xinyi, encouraging her to shoot whenever possible. She followed this advice against both the USA and Ecuador, and her consecutive goals have boosted her confidence.

The U17 team’s next three goals all came from set pieces. The second goal was a direct free kick in the 16th minute by Zeng Yijie, leaving the opposing goalkeeper helpless. This was Zeng Yijie's second free-kick goal in the tournament; in the second match against the USA, when trailing by a large margin, she also scored directly from a free kick. Wang Hongliang revealed that the team’s primary free-kick takers are Zeng Yijie and Chen Ruilin, with Chen scoring from a free kick in the first match against Norway to break the deadlock.

Chen Ruilin’s free kick goal against Norway

The third and fourth goals were scored through corner kick tactics. The third goal came after Chen Ruilin delivered a tactical corner, which Zeng Yijie returned for a direct shot causing an own goal by an Ecuadorian player. The fourth was from a left-side corner by Zeng Yijie, where the opponent’s defender missed marking Song Yu at the far post, allowing her to easily score with a header. Originally, the U17 team had a chance to score a penalty in the second half, but Zhou Xinyi’s shot hit the post.

Since the USA defeated Norway 5-0 in their last group match, the U17 team finished second in the group and will face Brazil, the runner-up of Group A. By reaching the round of 16, the U17 team has achieved their initial goal. According to Wang Hongliang, in the knockout stage, they will continue to showcase themselves and advance step by step.