'Card Master': Chinese World Cup fans rally around referee Ma Ning’s first match between Curacao and Ecuador

BEIJING: China may have failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup but fans back home are still rallying hard around their representative on the world stage - 47-year-old Chinese referee Ma Ning.

Ma made his appearance on Saturday (Jun 20) - officiating a match between Curacao and Ecuador at Kansas City Stadium which ended in a 0-0 draw.

Chinese media outlets raved about Ma’s performance as head referee, calling it a “historic moment for Chinese football”.

“Ma delivered a solid performance,” read a report by the state-run China Daily newspaper on Monday, noting that he issued a yellow card to Ecuador and five to Curacao.

“It represented the most significant World Cup involvement by Chinese match officials in more than two decades,” the China Daily report said, also referring to officials Zhou Fei and Fu Ming who were present.

Ma is the first Chinese official in 24 years to oversee a World Cup match as head referee.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV praised his “composed performance” and shared a video of him on the field, which garnered more than 3.3 million views.

“The only referee who won't succumb to pressure,” read a comment by Weibo user Yuki Zhi.

Another user with the handle Pink Butterfly wrote: "Other people are watching for the footballers, we're watching the referee."

President Xi Jinping once famously shared his ambitions for China to become a global football power.

But football still largely remains on the sidelines in the country and has been plagued by high-level corruption cases - which have seen a former Chinese Football Association (CFA) president and former national team coach being banned for life from the sport.

China's men's national team failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup following a 1-0 loss to Indonesia