"Other countries watch their own teams play matches, we watch our own referee hand out cards." That line, posted on Chinese social media platform RedNote, tells you everything about where Chinese football stands in 2026.
China hasn't been to a World Cup since 2002 — their only appearance, which ended in the group stage without a single goal scored. So this summer, with the tournament spread across Mexico, Canada, and the US, Chinese fans have found a different kind of representative: Ma Ning, a 46-year-old FIFA referee nicknamed the "Card Master," and the only Chinese official at the tournament.
Nine yellows, three reds, and a legend is born
Ma didn't exactly build his reputation on charm. For most of his career, he was the guy domestic fans heckled. The man spectators cursed at during Chinese Super League matches. His nickname came from a 2015 Shanghai derby where he handed out nine yellow cards and three reds in a single game — the kind of performance that goes viral for all the wrong reasons back home.
Now those same fans can't get enough of him. Since opening a RedNote account last month, Ma has accumulated over 210,000 followers. Lenovo and Hisense — two of China's biggest brands — have signed him up for sponsorships. His airport departure photo, captioned simply "Let's go!", turned into a national moment.
"You don't need a boarding card, just show them a red one," one user responded. The jokes write themselves, and the Chinese internet is very much in on them.
The bigger picture behind the memes
There's something genuinely poignant underneath the humor. Xi Jinping famously declared in 2011 that his three wishes were for China to qualify for the World Cup, host it, and win it. More than a decade of investment followed — foreign stars, European-style spending in the Chinese Super League, a government blueprint to become a "first-class soccer superpower" by 2050.
It hasn't worked. Corruption scandals, financial mismanagement, a devastating pandemic, and an economic slowdown all hit the sport hard. The dream is still alive on paper, but the team isn't in the Americas this summer.
Ma is, though. He's been a FIFA-certified referee since 2011 and made his World Cup debut in Qatar four years ago as a fourth official. This time he'll be in the middle of the pitch, potentially making calls in matches involving the biggest names in the game. He's already shared a frame with Cristiano Ronaldo during an AFC Champions League tie — the same Ronaldo that casual Chinese fan Debbie Wang cited as the only player she knows, alongside Messi and Mbappé, when explaining why she'll be staying up through a 12-to-16-hour time difference to watch Ma work.
"I am extremely curious about how many cards Ma Ning will issue," she told CNN. That's the metric Chinese fans are tracking at this World Cup. Not goals, not group standings — cards issued by their guy.
Ma is joined by assistant referee Zhou Fei and VAR official Fu Ming, but he's clearly the story. Before departing, he told Chinese state media he would "go all out to showcase the style and demeanor of Chinese referees on the World Cup stage."
Whether that style involves a lot of yellow cards, Chinese fans are very much hoping so.
