On the evening of July 17, Beijing time, the Chinese Football Association officially announced that, through mutual agreement, 52-year-old David Almazan will no longer serve as the head coach of China's U16 men's football team. The CFA expressed gratitude to Mr. David Almazan and his coaching staff for their hard work during their tenure and looks forward to his continued contributions to Chinese football.

The highly anticipated World Cup final is about to begin. On the evening of July 17 Beijing time, Spanish left-back Marc Cucurella, valued at €50 million, made a surprising remark during an interview, saying that if Spain wins the World Cup this time, he would immediately leave the national team.

On July 17, Beijing time, a netizen posted a video on social media revealing that 53-year-old ex-national player Shen Si physically assaulted a youth academy player during coaching sessions.

On the afternoon of July 17, the group B matches of the U17 National Finals – Red Dragon Cup 2026 kicked off excitingly in Gia Lai with four thrilling games. Hanoi recorded the biggest victory of the day, while HCMC Football Club secured all three points against SLNA, and both Dong Nai and Hue claimed valuable narrow wins.

In a key match of the 19th round of the Chinese Super League, concluding on the evening of July 17th Beijing time, Beijing Guoan played a 1-1 draw at home against the promoted team Liaoning Tieren. In the first half, Zhang Yuning's half-one-on-one shot was saved, Sergio scored with a powerful strike to break the deadlock, and He Yupeng was substituted due to injury.

The 2026 World Cup third-place match will take place in Florida (USA) on July 19, featuring two European representatives who are also the most expensive squads in the tournament: France (nearly €1.5 billion) and England (over €1.3 billion). Both Les Bleus and the Three Lions aim for victory to close out the competition on the best possible note.

The Myanmar national team head coach candidly acknowledged that his team will face a huge challenge during their away match against Vietnam, and also assessed that creating an upset is no easy task.

After four weeks of training in South Korea, the Vietnam national team enters its final dress rehearsal before the 2026 ASEAN Cup with a friendly match against Myanmar. Coach Kim Sang Sik affirmed that the team has made thorough professional preparations and sees this as a crucial opportunity to test the squad and finalize the lineup ahead of defending the championship.

At 19:35 Beijing time on July 17, a key match of the 19th round of the Chinese Super League kicked off, with Beijing Guoan hosting the promoted team Liaoning Tieren at home. The starting lineups for both sides have also been announced. Zhang Yuning returns, and Fabio reaches his 100th appearance milestone for Guoan. On the Tieren side, 17-year-old mixed-race center-back Zhang Hongfu starts for the second consecutive game.

Despite still having a contract until 2027, Le Viktor is reportedly set to part ways with Hong Linh Ha Tinh, with his next stop possibly being one of the "Public Security teams."