The croatian

The Chinese Football Association: The Chinese Football Association (CFA) announced on Saturday that Croatian Branko Ivankovic has been appointed head coach of the Chinese men's national team, replacing Aleksandar Jankovic of Serbia following the poor results from the Asian Cup.

"In order to prepare for the upcoming 2026 World Cup qualifiers, the CFA decided, after the assessment of experts, to hire Branko Ivankovic as the new head coach of China's men's national team," read a CFA statement.

Ivankovic, who turns 70 next week, had coached several European clubs, including Germany's Hannover 96 and Croatia's GNK Dinamo Zagreb, as well as the national teams of Iran and Oman.