The Chinese national women's football team have returned home after exiting the Women's World Cup with a 2-0 loss to Italy on Tuesday. Although they bowed out in the round of 16, the players were still welcomed by an enthusiastic crowd of fans in Beijing on Thursday.

China came up short in their bid to reach the last eight for a second straight time, and sixth overall. Italy, on the other hand, have stormed into the quarterfinals for the first time since the tournament was staged for the first time in 1991. Jia Xiuquan's team arrived at the Capital International Airport at 2:50 in the afternoon on Thursday.

After his side's arrival in China, coach Jia Xiuquan said: "Women's soccer in Europe and the world are developing very fast. Of course, we are also making progress and moving forward, but I think the gap is still there. We had a champion's mentality and a goal before the tournament. Although we lost, the World Cup still was of great value to the girls."

Meanwhile, China's team captain Wu Haiyan mentioned: "I feel that we gained more because the 2019 World Cup attracted more attention and our fans have higher expectations for us and for women's football. This is a big motivation for us."

The Steel Roses kicked off the tournament with a 1-0 loss to Germany, followed by a 1-0 victory over South Africa with Li Ying's goal in the 40th minute in Paris, which was the team's only goal of the tournament. They drew Spain 0-0 to finish third in Group B and clinched their seventh straight trip to the knockout rounds. Now the squad is looking forward to rebuilding and once again chasing a first World Cup title in four years. Wang Shuang was not with the team as she stayed in Paris to handle some personal matters.