Expelling Jankovic, Chinese National Team Appoints Ivankovic as Coach

Jakarta, Beritasatu.com – Croatian coach Branko Ivankovic has officially been appointed as the new architect for the Chinese national team, replacing Aleksandar Jankovic who was fired after unsatisfactory results at the 2023 Asian Cup in Qatar.

According to a report from the official AFC website on Sunday (25/2/2024), Ivankovic will take over responsibility ahead of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, leading Wu Lei and his colleagues.

In a statement quoted from AFCthe China Football Association (CFA) explained that Ivankovic's appointment as head coach of the Chinese national team was the result of an expert evaluation to prepare for the upcoming 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

Previously, Ivankovic had experience managing the Oman national team in the 2023 Asian Cup in Qatar, but failed to advance to the round of 16 after only finishing third in group F with two points.

Ivankovic's main task is to improve the performance of the Chinese national team, which also failed to reach the last 16 of the 2023 Asian Cup after only finishing in third place in Group A with two points.

Ivankovic's experience is considered quite adequate, including coaching clubs in the Chinese Super League, such as Shandong Luneng in 2010. At that time he succeeded in bringing the club to the championship title in its first season.

As a former coach of the Bundesliga club, Hannover 96, Ivankovic has a big task to bring China to compete in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Currently, China is in third place in group C of the second round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifications with three points from two matches. They are behind South Korea, who collected six points and topped the standings.

China will face Singapore in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in March.