Freeze, love, dream and greenery
——This year, unforgettable moments of Corps football
Zhu Dandan, all-media reporter at Xingtuan Daily
The football was racing across the desert oasis, and cheers resounded throughout the campus stadium. The Corps in 2025 will be particularly vivid due to a series of exciting football matches. From grassroots auditions to national duels, from fun challenges to national unity events, football is like a tenacious link, gathering the enthusiasm of employees and drawing a vivid picture of the integration of national fitness and culture.
The scene of the 2025 XPCC Freestyle Football Challenge Finals (photographed on October 11). Photo by Ma Yan, all-media reporter of Xingtuan Daily
This year, the football event started wonderfully with the participation of all the people. The Corps Freestyle Football Challenge, launched in April 2025, will extend the competition stage to community squares, campus playgrounds and border regiment fields in 14 divisions and cities of the Corps through a full cycle competition system of “audition-selection-finals”.
In the 2025 “National Fitness and Healthy China” National County Football Championship, the winning team of Shihezi Town of the Eighth Division of the Corps competed with the Zhongxin Football Team of Xinyang Xixian County, Henan Province (photographed on December 24). Photo by Teng Jia
In the end, more than 700 outstanding players stood out from the total number of participants of more than 20,000 people and gathered at the Eighth Division Shihezi City finals to show off their talents.
On December 25, the winning team from Shihezi Town of the Eighth Division of the Corps celebrated their victory at Tianshan International Airport after their triumphant return. Photo by Chen Yang, all-media reporter of Xingtuan Daily
The precision of football bowling, the ingenuity of nine-square shooting, and the agility of fancy balls… The individual event finals were particularly eye-catching. The competition is divided into four categories: student groups A and B, and social groups A and B, covering all age groups of old, middle-aged and young people, allowing different enthusiasts to find their own stage. Whether it is the concentration of a 12-year-old boy focusing on the ball, or the calmness of a 60-year-old employee on the field, the cheers on the green field are vivid witnesses of the vitality of the XPCC national movement.
Players compete fiercely at the “National Unity Cup” futsal match of the 137th Regiment of the Seventh Division (photographed on September 21). Photo by Qiu Jintao
This year, football matches brought people together through unity and blending. The “National Unity Cup” futsal match held by the No. 137 Regiment of the Seventh Division innovatively adopted the “three men and two women” mixed team model, attracting 88 players to break identity barriers and compete on the same field. They cooperate and work side by side on the field; they exchange experiences and enhance friendship off the field, allowing the flower of national unity to bloom quietly on the vibrant green field.
Xinjiang Hebingtuan National Football Super League scene, players fight hard on the green field (photographed on July 18). Photo by Li Huabei, resident reporter of Xingtuan Daily
The Xinjiang Hebingtuan National Football Super League has built a broad platform for the integration of military and local areas. 32 teams competed fiercely for the qualifications to represent the Corps in the national “Village Super League” competition. The event was innovatively linked with intangible cultural heritage performances and special tourism resources, attracting more than 500,000 people to watch the game, allowing the audience to enjoy the passion of competition and deeply appreciate the diverse charm of the Corps culture.
This year, Football Glory has achieved brilliance through hard work and hard work. Not long ago, on the stage of the 2025 “National Fitness and Healthy China” National County Football Championship, the Shihezi Town winning team of the Eighth Division of the Corps advanced all the way, and finally won the championship with a seven-match victory and a 4:1 score in the final, achieving the Corps’ “zero breakthrough” in the championship honors in national football events. This heavy honor is backed by the solid support of the three-level competition system of “Corps-Division-City-Regiment Field”, as well as the unremitting pursuit of generations of Corps footballers who adhere to their love and work silently.
The 2025 “National Fitness and Healthy China” national county football competition team finals were held in Tiemenguan City, Second Division (photo taken on October 20). Photo by Wei Chengyi, resident reporter of Corps Daily
From fun competitions to professional competitions, from grassroots popularization to national peaks, the football events vigorously organized by the Corps in 2025 have already surpassed the sport itself. It is not only a healthy carrier for employees to strengthen their bodies and boost their spirits, but also a bridge of friendship for people of all ethnic groups to unite and help each other. It is also a vivid interpretation of the Corps spirit on the green field in the new era.
When football flies across the vast land of the Corps, it carries not only the passion and joy of the sport, but also the strength of the Corps to unite, forge ahead, and be high-spirited. This vibrant vitality will continue to spread and flourish in this hot land.
