Li Hao (; born 6 March 2004) is a Chinese

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

currently playing as a goalkeeper for Spanish side

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

Club career

Li was selected as one of fifty young Chinese footballers to join the academy of Spanish side

, as part of

Wanda Group Wanda Group (), or the Dalian Wanda Group (), is a Chinese multinational conglomerate founded in Dalian, Liaoning and headquartered in Beijing. It is a private property developer and owner of Wanda Cinemas and the Hoyts Group. With inve ...

's "China Football Hope Star" initiative to encourage the development of young Chinese footballers. On his return to China, he remained with the Wanda Group, playing for the company's football team, Beijing Wanda. In 2021, he represented the

China national under-20 football team The China national under-20 football team, also known as the China Youth Team (国青队), represents the People's Republic of China in international football competitions in the FIFA U-20 World Cup and the AFC Youth Championship, as well as an ...

in the China League Two, notably producing an impressive performance in the Chinese FA Cup, despite his team losing 2–1 to

Dalian Professional Dalian Professional Football Club () is a professional Chinese Association football, football club based in Dalian, Liaoning, that participates in the China League One, China Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA) ...

. In February 2023, he returned to

, joining their academy and becoming the second Chinese player to sign an official contract with the club after Xu Xin.

International career

Li has represented China from under-15 to under-22 level. He gained notable attention in the

2023 AFC U-20 Asian Cup The 2023 AFC U-20 Asian Cup was the 41st edition of the AFC U-20 Asian Cup (including previous editions of the AFC Youth Championship and AFC U-19 Championship), the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Asian Footbal ...

, having produced an outstanding performance as

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

managed to reach the quarter-finals, including a shock win over then-champions Saudi Arabia at the group stage. Despite falling short of qualifying to the

2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup will be the 23rd edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 197 ...

in Argentina, Li Hao's performance had gathered praises for his excellent goalkeeping skills.https://www.chinesesuperleague.uk/player-interview/li-hao/

Career statistics

Club

References

2004 births Living people Footballers from Guangzhou Footballers from Guangdong Chinese men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers China League Two players Atlético Madrid footballers Chinese expatriate men's footballers Chinese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain 21st-century Chinese people {{PRChina-footy-bio-stub