Chinese fans are hoping that this team is the second from the world's most populous nation to make it to the World Cup. But it will not be easy, and CCTV reporter Mike Fox went to the streets of Beijing to see just how much hope they have that they can achieve this.
The twelve nations enter two groups of 6 and will face each opponent twice in a round robin format. As for China, most of their opponents have got the better of them in the past apart from Syria.
The five opponents whom PRC only has advantage over Syria based on past meetings means it's not an easy road ahead. It's true, the draw could have been tougher but that doesn't make the task easier.
"I think China's ability is weak compared to some of the other teams in the group. Only Thailand in Group B are at the same level to China. So I don't think we have a good chance to make it to World Cup finals to be honest," a soccer fan said.
Following the sacking of Alain Perrin after a string of poor performances during the last phase, Gao Hongbo was able to pick up the pieces and lead them to the last 12. This is the second time Gao has been in charge of the PRC.
In his previous spell China beat Iran in 2009 1-0 and comfortably beat South Korea 3-0 in the East Asian Cup in 2010 and fans think Gao is a better choice than a foreign coach.
"Gao Hongbo used to be a professional football player, and was coaching in China for a long time, so I think he is more familiar with the team than those Foreign coaches," one fan said.
"He has his own ideas of technique and tactics and is familiar with most of the teams from Asia. So I think he will more suitable to coach the team rather than foreign coaches."
Sitting in the fourth pot before the draw, ranking eighth among all twelve nations in Asia, China are not seen as a favourite .The ten games will start from September and go on for 12 months. Despite their struggle to get through, China were expected to reach this stage from their group. Now the real test comes.
Fans of Chinese Men's Soccer team share their views:
"I think all the teams will be hard to beat. But all the teams have one thing in common, in the past we played them coached by Gao Hongbo, so I think it's a great advantage because we knew their style of play."
"We have beat Qatar before so we may have more confidence facing them. We may have a hard-fought game against Syria and South Korea. As for Iran I think we'll have a good chance if we do our best."
