Rongcheng FC – Chengdu’s beloved football team – had led the championship race confidently for a long time, yet their spectacular late collapse has drawn global football headlines, putting Chengdu on the world map for all the wrong reasons. Somehow they let the title slip away right on the finish line.
• It had already been a strange season in China even before the run‑in, with 9 of the 16 teams starting the season on minus points due to historic offences like match‑fixing.
One of the Worst Title-Race Collapse Ever
The title-race collapse will go down as one of the worst in football history, especially with the faltering finish from the side led by Australian Aloisi, who had spells at Portsmouth and Coventry City during his playing career.
Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle United famously gave up a 12-point lead to Manchester United in 1995-96 to miss out on the Premier League, while the Red Devils also blew a 12-point advantage over Arsenal in the 1997-98 campaign.
Incredible Finale to the Season
To be fair, Chengdu Rongcheng were pre-season title favourites. Eight of the 16 league teams received point penalties for past match-fixing, meaning key rivals began the campaign with 5 to10 points on their tally.
Rongcheng enjoyed a stellar first half of the season, yet form slipped after the summer break. Chengdu had appeared a lock to win the Chinese top division for weeks, on top all season and leading the competition by 14 points with five rounds remaining and needing just to pick up one point to secure a maiden title. But they lost all five games and, after slipping to a 3-2 defeat to Shandong Taishan on the final day, handed the title to Dalian Yingbo.
2026 Chinese Football Super League Table
Both clubs finished on 52 points, but Dalian were crowned champions thanks to their superior head-to-head record: they had beaten their rivals twice. Remarkably, Chengdu had a far better goal difference, but in China, head-to-head results are the first tiebreaker when teams finish level on points.
In this way, Dalian Yingbo won five consecutive matches to claim the championship for the first time in the club’s history, while Chengdu saw their dream of a maiden title vanish after an incredible collapse at the finish.
Chengdu Rongcheng former head coach John Aloisi
Leadership Overhaul: What Lies ahead for Rongcheng?
With the core leadership swept out following this historic title blow, fans now wait to see who will take charge, rebuild the squad’s confidence, and steer Rongcheng forward after this bitter, unforgettable end to their season.
Sources: dailysports, BBC, ESPN
Chengdu Rongcheng Team. Photograph: Zhizhao Wu/Getty Images
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