China is increasingly used to getting its way in the global sporting arena.

In addition to hosting top international tennis, golf and motor racing events each year, high-profile competitions such as the 2008 Summer Olympic Games and the 2011 FINA World Aquatics Championships will be followed by the World Athletics Championships later this year and - possibly - the 2022 Winter Games, ­depending on the IOC's vote in July.

But the FIFA World Cup is another matter entirely.

Much has been made of Chinese President Xi Jinping's three wishes for Chinese soccer, namely qualifying for, hosting and winning a World Cup, but it will be many years before any of these three things happen.

Only the most deluded patriot - and certainly no one who claims to be a ­soccer fan - would predict that China will win a World Cup in their lifetime. But what of the other two wishes?

Despite a solid run to the quarter­finals of this year's Asian Cup, it should be remembered that China's favorable draw meant it only beat one higher-ranked team - Uzbekistan, currently the 71st best team in the world. With only four automatic spots in World Cup qualifying available to teams from the Asian Football Conference, China's chances of qualifying for just the second World Cup in its history remain slim.

For these reasons, recent discussion has focused on China hosting a future World Cup, an eventuality that would also see the Chinese team qualify by default. Respected international publications have highlighted the link between China's Wanda Group and its new acquisition of sports marketing firm Infront, which just happens to be run by the nephew of FIFA President Sepp Blatter.

But the earliest China could conceivably bid for the World Cup under FIFA's bidding rules would be the 2034 edition, by which point Blatter - and his influence - would be long gone.

China's best chance of achieving any of Xi's three goals may be to wait until the tournament expands from 32 to 40 teams - whenever that might be - giving Asian teams an easier route to the finals.

The author is a Beijing-based freelance writer. dreyermark@gmail.com