Coming into the World Cup qualification having finished fourth in the continental championships back in December ’88, China were looking to get their own back on Iran. It was the latter who had triumphed in the penalty shoot-out in the third-place play-off tie, and it would be a solid pay-back were China to finish top of the pile and progress through to the second and final phase of the World Cup qualification. 

Prior to competing in the Asian Cup, China had also taken part in the 1988 Olympic Games football tournament, which had been played out in the latter half of September. This was the country’s first ever appearance at Olympic football competition level. The players who had been in action during the Seoul Olympics would also be seen in World Cup qualifying action. While they had bowed out after the group stage without scoring a single goal, they had come up against strong opposition in shape of West Germany and Sweden from the UEFA section, as well as Tunisia of CAF. 0-0 against the North Africans in their final game had been a fine achievement to round the competition off with. 

59 year old Gao Fengwen was a former international player himself, and had been in charge of the Chinese national team since 1986. Prior to commencing work with the full international team, Fengwen had for a few years already worked within the Chinese Football Federation as a youth team and U20 coach. 

China’s solitary game in preparing for the World Cup qualification had been a 0-0 draw against Hong Kong 11 days prior to their first qualifier at home to Bangladesh.