Wuhan Jiangda WFC vs. Auckland United FC, 8 October 2025. This matchup will create history as the very first fixture in the newly launched FIFA Women’s Champions Cup™, which pits the six continental champions against each other.
In the first round of the competition, these two teams will take to the pitch at the Wuhan Sports Center Stadium to make history and the hosts are in large part indebted to Wang Shuang for securing their passage to the tournament.
It was the experienced 30-year-old Chinese international – who has played for Paris Saint-Germain (France), Racing Louisville (USA) and Tottenham (England) – who scored a dramatic equaliser in the eighth minute of second half stoppage time in the AFC Women’s Champions League final against Melbourne City last May. That sent the clash to extra time and eventually penalties in the first edition of the Asian tournament, allowing Wang and her teammates to dream of global glory.
That was also a key factor in the forward being short-listed as one of the three nominees for the AFC Player of the Year Award, alongside Australia’s Holly McNamara and Japanese defender Hana Takahashi, with the winner to be announced on 16 October.
Speaking with FIFA ahead of the highly-anticipated fixture, Wang touched on the challenge presented by Auckland United, the possibility of facing the African champions in Round 2 and European champions Arsenal in the semi-finals. She also explained how her experiences abroad have changed her outlook and how her best friend, Danish international and former team-mate Nadia Nadim, has helped her in both football and life.
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Wang Shuang: At the time, I didn’t have too many thoughts. I just thought that I had to score the goal. I could feel a lot of power, a lot of cheering and shouting from the fans, there were so many of them. We were playing at home. I just wanted to score the goal and win the game. I think it’s a memorable moment for me and the team. Because of this victory, a lot of people remember Wuhan Jiangda Women’s Football Club.
Yes, we hope more people can see and remember us. We have the determination and a sense of mission, of responsibility. We believe we can achieve good results in the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup.
The sense of honour. We have a very good spirit and a very good mind. Our team is very united. This match [against Auckland United] is not only for the club; we want to be acknowledged by more people. We want to promote the development of Chinese women’s football in a very high-level competition match.
I only know that they are the champions of New Zealand and Oceania. Relatively speaking, we don’t know much about them. This proves that both teams need such a high-level platform to be seen by everyone. The competition is not only about the level of competition. I think it is more about being able to participate in such a competition in order to be seen and remembered by everyone. No matter who wins in the end, I think it is a positive signal for the development of Asian and Chinese women’s football.
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We are looking forward to playing against the best teams in the world. We have to stay positive and enjoy the game, but we have to move forward step by step. It’s a long journey. We need to win against Auckland and then we need to win against the African champions. At the end, maybe we will meet Arsenal. We want to stay humble but still keep a positive attitude and enjoy the game.
Arsenal have a very strong team. Not only their personal skills or their tactics, they’re great in all aspects. We can learn a lot from their players. I believe we can play a great game for the fans all over the world, if we reach that stage. We wish to use this opportunity, this platform. We believe that, as long as we are united, we can offer a great game to the whole world.
I’ve seen the development of women’s football in the world, and it’s left a deep impression on me. It’s not that, in the past ten years, China’s development of women’s football has not been good enough, but I can say that, compared to Europe and the United States, the level of women’s football in Asia is still a little behind. So we were very honoured to have the chance of taking part in the inaugural edition of the Asian Women’s Champions League. It was a great new starting point for women’s football.
I think that my experiences overseas improved my capacity of thinking independently. Secondly, they also widened the horizon of football for me, they opened my mind on the different aspects of football development. On a personal level, I also met my best friend, Nadia Nadim. She is a legend of football. She helped me a lot, with my confidence too. When I couldn’t speak English, whether it was in Paris or in Louisville, at training or in real life, she helped. She can speak six languages! She is someone who could empathise with me. Maybe it had something to do with her experience. She is a very thoughtful person, a very good person.
