Who says there is no "Chinese national team" in the 2026 World Cup?

A rising SOE star in the automotive world, a Chinese brand is making its debut.

The drums of the 2026 World Cup hosted by the USA, Canada, and Mexico have not yet sounded, and a global surge in football fervor has already begun. At this critical juncture, Changan Automobile, the "national team" of China's automotive industry, officially partnered with Portugal's National Football Team, a powerhouse of European football, in Lisbon.

On May 22, both parties signed a global strategic cooperation agreement themed "Stay in the game (Always in the Game)", marking the first time a Chinese automaker has become an official partner of a top-tier European football national team.

This "meeting at the peak" crossing national borders is not only a milestone in Changan Automobile's global strategy but also a highlight moment for Chinese car brands on the World Cup stage to show their intelligent manufacturing strength to the world.

The 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada, and Mexico hasn't started yet, but in this marketing drama watched by the world, why did Changan Automobile emerge first? Why did the Portugal National Team, featuring one of the two legendary superstars of this World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo, choose to cooperate with Changan Automobile?

01 National Team Qualification: Lighting Up the World Stage

Although the Chinese Football National Team failed to appear on the field of this World Cup, Changan Automobile, as the "SOE National Team", landed on this globally watched "pitch" first in a more strategic way.

As a new SOE directly managed by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, Changan Automobile has long surpassed simple product exports, turning towards global output of brands and values. This partnership with the Portuguese Football Association is a vivid practice of its "No Overseas, No Changan" philosophy.

At the signing ceremony site, both parties jointly released the brand co-branded film "Sounds like Changan" and successfully completed the overseas delivery of the first Deepal S05 plug-in hybrid model (PHEV) in Europe.

At the same time, Changan Automobile officially launched long-distance testing of related models in Europe, comprehensively testing the vehicle's performance in range, fast charging, energy consumption, and durability.

These specific actions not only demonstrated Changan Automobile's "always online" brand posture but also sent a clear signal to the world: Chinese smart manufacturing has the strength to participate in the global high-end market competition.

This is not only a business cooperation but also a spiritual endorsement. When Cristiano Ronaldo leads the Portugal team to strive for the last World Cup, Changan Automobile is also writing a chapter of struggle belonging to Chinese brands on the global stage with the identity of "new SOE". Although the two fields are different, they share the same gene — a persistent pursuit of excellence.

02 Spiritual Resonance: Why Portugal?

Changan Automobile's choice of the Portugal National Team was not an accidental hot marketing, but a high degree of fit based on spiritual core and strategic goals.

From a spiritual level, the resilience and ambition accumulated by the Portugal National Team over a hundred years resonate deeply with Changan Automobile's corporate DNA that has experienced three entrepreneurial phases and constantly breaks through itself.

Whether it is Cristiano Ronaldo's extreme self-discipline for 20 years like one day, or the competitive backbone of the Portugal team rising in adversity, all interpret the true meaning of "Stay in the game" — not a flash in the pan, but a daily persistence and love. This is highly consistent with the corporate spirit emphasized by Changan Automobile Chairman Zhu Huarong: "If you don't move forward, you must retreat."

From a strategic dimension, Europe is a must-fight land for Changan Automobile's global layout. As the birthplace of the global automotive industry, the European market is both a challenge and a key springboard for brand leapfrogging for Chinese brands.

By binding the Portugal National Team, a world-class IP, Changan Automobile can not only effectively break cultural barriers and brand cognition barriers but also use its strong momentum radiating to Europe, Latin America, and global fan groups to accelerate the transition from "product going global" to "brand going global".

As Zhu Huarong emphasized in the "146" global strategy: In the next five years, 100 billion level resources will be invested to promote globalization, achieving overseas sales doubling to 1.5 million by 2030, striving for 1.8 million. This cooperation is the latest move in this grand blueprint.

03 Behind Qualification: High-speed Advancing Globalization

The World Cup hasn't started yet, but Changan Automobile has already taken the lead on the dual tracks of marketing and strategy. This confidence of "sounding before fighting" stems from its solid layout in the international market over many years.

In recent years, Changan Automobile has firmly promoted the "Open to All Oceans" Plan 2.0, building a "152" global layout, with business covering Southeast Asia, South America, Middle East & Africa, Euro-Asia and other key regions. From the production of the first overseas new energy vehicle factory in Rayong, Thailand, to the formal operation of the Brazilian factory; from the 2025 overseas sales breaking 637,000 units, to the first batch of 500 Deepal S05s exported to Europe in 2026, every step highlights the deep cultivation concept of "Long-term, Localization, Systematization, and Integrated ESG Construction".

Especially at the technical level, Changan Automobile focuses on Blue Whale Superelectric Hybrid and Tianyu Intelligent System to create the "Global Hybrid Chinese Solution" and promotes intelligent driving and smart energy ecology construction. These hard-core technical supports enable Changan Automobile to accept rigorous tests in the European market and have the confidence to compete on the same stage with world-class brands.

This signing is also an accelerator for Changan Automobile's transformation from "selling products" to "building brands and ecosystems". In the future, Changan will not only launch co-branded merchandise and star interaction fan benefits but also use the World Cup window to let global users see a Chinese brand image that is technology-led, warm, and trustworthy.

Conclusion: Always Online, Meeting at the Summit Together

"To be the best, or nothing." This golden life quote by Cristiano Ronaldo is firmly imprinted in the hearts of hundreds of millions of football fans.

And this has become the best footnote for Changan Automobile to accelerate its growth into a global enterprise.

From the banks of the Jialing River in Chongqing to the Luz Stadium in Lisbon, from Europe, the birthplace of football, to the vast USA, Canada, and Mexico, amidst the roaring applause of the World Cup, from the sales champion of fuel sedans to the pioneer of new energy overseas, Changan Automobile is entering the center of the world stage with an open posture and firm steps.

This "meeting at the peak" with the Portugal National Team is not just a juxtaposition of two names, but a convergence of two struggling spirits, a two-way journey of "Chinese Smart Manufacturing" and "Sports Powerhouses", and also a summer feast of Chinese automobiles and global users.

When Cristiano Ronaldo steps onto the World Cup journey for the last time, what he represents is the curtain call of an era and the continuation of unyielding spirit; while the overseas path of Changan Automobile is the rise of a national brand and the opening of the future. Under the shared belief of "Stay in the game", whether on the green field or the global track, they have chosen — always online, never withdraw.

I believe that as the 2026 World Cup curtain rises, the world will see: a team fighting for glory and a brand traveling for dreams, walking hand in hand towards the peak under the same sky.

As the overseas expansion of automobiles accelerates from products "going out" to brands "going in" and industries "taking root", the globalization competition of Chinese automakers has reached a new historical development stage.

On the eve of the highly anticipated World Cup opening, a cross-border cooperation between cars and sports was officially announced. On May 22, Changan Automobile and the Portuguese Football Association signed a global strategic cooperation agreement with the theme "Stay in the game (Always In the Game)", officially becoming the global official partner of the Portugal National Team.

At the signing ceremony, the two parties not only released the co-branded film "Voice of Changan" but also completed the overseas delivery of the first Deepal S05 plug-in hybrid model (PHEV) in Europe. Immediately after, Changan Automobile's thousand-kilometer long-term test in Europe commenced.

Of note, Changan Automobile is the first Chinese car brand to reach an official cooperation with a top European football national team. This means the cooperation between the two parties will by no means stay at the superficial level of "sports marketing", but rather break overseas barriers further by leveraging "football" as a universal global cultural language, accelerate value going overseas, and convey the strength of Chinese automotive intelligent manufacturing. For Changan Automobile itself, this is also a key step to comprehensively promote the "All-Inclusive" Plan 2.0 and assist in the implementation of the "1445 Global Strategy".

Why the Portugal National Team? What Does Changan Automobile's Linkage with the World Cup Aim For?

In the eyes of laymen, this cooperation is inevitably understood as "leveraging World Cup traffic for marketing", but that would underestimate Changan Automobile's strategic considerations too much.

Automotive manufacturers partnering with sports IP have never been about chasing temporary traffic, nor for short-term exposure, but rather to leverage the natural emotional connection of "football" to fully open the cognitive entry for global consumers.

In the past few years, the sales growth of Chinese automakers overseas was indeed very fast, but they all face a realistic issue that consumers still stay at the product cognition stage regarding Chinese automobiles. In other words, they know Chinese cars are cheap and highly equipped, but lack long-term brand recognition. If this continues, Chinese brands will find it difficult to achieve mindshare among global users in a short time.

Football, as a borderless universal cultural symbol, possesses extremely strong global communication power and mass foundation. At the same time, the Portugal National Team is one of the most influential national teams in the world football circle. From the Figo era to the Ronaldo era, it has maintained global attention for a long time.

Therefore, after binding with the Portugal National Team, overseas users will naturally pay attention to Changan Automobile through top European sports IPs. This not only helps Changan Automobile quickly break through brand cognition barriers in the European market but also achieves the upgrade of its own global brand image.

It should be known that the competition faced by Chinese automakers overseas today is not only from traditional multinational automotive companies but also includes Tesla, Hyundai, Kia, and an increasing number of new energy brands. For Chinese automobiles, quickly building brand awareness is the urgent task.

In addition, to truly enter the European mainstream market, relying solely on cost-performance ratio is far from enough. It also requires certain technical strength and brand accumulation to win the long-term trust of local users.

Changan Automobile well understands this complete methodology of going overseas. Therefore, after the official announcement of cooperation, it quickly launched the European long-term test, verified hardcore product strength, and with concrete actions closely followed the fundamental principle of "Systematic Going Overseas" in the "All-Inclusive" Plan 2.0, achieving a dual breakthrough from brand to product, making this partnership with the Portugal National Team even more "resounding".

Spirit with the Same Origin, Ideas at the Same Frequency, Two "National Teams" Joining Hands to Go to World Class Together

In this cooperation, there is another key word worth paying attention to, which is "Stay in the game (Always In the Game)". On the surface, this is an expression in the sports context, but in fact, it is also an attitude of Changan Automobile towards the globalization strategy.

Nowadays, the competition in the Chinese automobile market has entered the "long-distance race" from "short-term explosion". Especially in terms of globalization, Chinese automakers' overseas acceleration has significantly sped up, but there are not many companies that can truly build systemic capabilities overseas.

Changan Automobile never acts as a "short-terminist". It always emphasizes one point: "No overseas, no Changan; no base, no overseas". The meaning is very simple, Changan Automobile's export is not just selling cars out, but must take local rooting as the ultimate goal.

Currently, Changan Automobile has divided the global market into eight major regions and constructed a "152" global layout. The overseas sales network has expanded from 63 countries in 2020 to 118 countries and regions, with a cumulative total of 1124 overseas sales outlets. At the same time, Changan Automobile is continuing to promote the construction of overseas manufacturing systems, including Thailand Rayong factory, Brazil factory, and other localized production bases, which have entered the "Industrial Going Overseas" stage.

According to the "All-Inclusive" Plan 2.0, by 2030, Changan Automobile's overseas sales target will reach 1.5 million - 1.8 million vehicles, and aim for the global automobile brand TOP 10. Especially with the export of Deepal S05 to Europe, the process of Changan Automobile building a global brand narrative has been fully accelerated, making it more confident in achieving higher overseas goals. In this process, the cooperation between Changan Automobile and the Portugal National Team will undoubtedly become an extremely important bonus point.

After the cooperation was announced, many people feel that this cooperation is highly fitting and has triggered deep resonance in the automotive circle and sports circle. On the one hand, the Portugal National Team represents long-term accumulation, continuous struggle, and breakthrough against the trend. On the other hand, the development of Changan Automobile in the past few decades has also experienced the whole process of the Chinese automobile industry from weak to strong. Especially in the new energy transformation cycle, Changan Automobile is also one of the few traditional large automotive manufacturers to complete the reconstruction of the new energy system. Therefore, the two parties can be said to be unprecedentedly consistent in their spiritual core.

In fact, whether it is football or the automotive industry, it requires day-by-day persistence and the confidence to rush towards the future to "Always In the Game", always laughing till the end. This is also the most important enlightenment that Changan Automobile and the Portugal National Team bring to us.

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On May 22, Deepal Automotive officially announced becoming the global official partner of the Portuguese National Team. At the announcement site in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, Deepal Automotive delivered its global flagship product Deepal S05 to the team and simultaneously launched the 1000km European long-distance test driving ceremony.This is not only a strong alliance between a Chinese new energy vehicle brand and a European champion team, but also Deepal Automotive's 'Home Court Declaration' sent to the world with the posture of 'Young, Technology, Sports', marking that the brand's deep cultivation of Europe and global layout has entered a new milestone.

Sales Momentum Leads, Deepal Speed Validates State-Owned Enterprise Strength

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Deepal S05: Global Best-selling SUV, First Choice for Bay Area Family Travel

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Deepal S09: Smart Flagship Large Six-Seater, Business and Home All-Round Support

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Deepal L07: Smart Family Sedan Benchmark, Commuting Good Partner for Office Workers

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