The 2025 season was Beijing Guoan F.C.'s 61st season in Chinese football competitions. This season marks the club's 22nd consecutive season in the Chinese Super League since the league's inaugural season in 2004, and it is the club's 35th consecutive season in the top-flight of Chinese football. It covered a period from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025.
Guoan finished 4th in the domestic league, and won the season's edition of the Chinese FA Cup. Guoan participated in the group stage of the 2025–26 AFC Champions League Two, but was eliminated from the next round of the competition.
Summary
Pre-season On 10 December 2024, Guoan announced that head coach Ricardo Soares had left the club. On the same day, the club appointed Quique Setién as head coach for the 2025 season. Setién said that he would like the team to play possession-based attacking football, and that he believed that the team should not be 20 points behind league leaders as it was in the 2024 season.
The team began a two-week pre-season training in Kunming starting on 15 December, with players out on loan returning to participate as well. Newly appointed head coach Setién was not present during this phase with training instead being led by assistant coach and Spanish former beach soccer player Ramiro Amarelle.
On 21 December 2024, Guoan suffered a temporary transfer ban from FIFA that prohibited incoming player transfers pending the result of certain financial disputes. The ban was lifted on 30 December 2024 following the resolution of the financial dispute, and Guoan was free to continue player transfer activities.
On 27 December 2024, Guoan played a training match in Kunming against Shandong Taishan's U-18 team. As the opponent was much younger, Guoan played with a 10-man team. Guoan won 4–0 with two goals from Yan Yu and one each from Wang Ziming and Fang Hao. The training camp officially concluded on 28 December 2024.
News reports on 31 December 2024 confirmed that the club had signed a 2-year contract extension with Zhang Xizhe and 1-year extensions with Wang Gang and Chi Zhongguo, respectively. Bai Yang, Nebijan Muhmet, and Cao Yongjing's contracts were also extended by the club. It was also reported that Samuel Adegbenro, Mamadou Traoré, and Zhang Chengdong's contracts would not be extended and that the players had left the club. The club also announced the retirement of long-time captain Yu Dabao and his subsequent transition to youth coaching roles within the club. On 7 January 2025, Li Ke announced his departure from Beijing Guoan after a six-season-long spell. The following day, Shanghai Shenhua announced Li Ke's arrival at the club on a free transfer. Ahead of the season, long-term club youth players including He Xiaoqiang, Ruan Qilong, Ma Yujun, Duan Dezhi, and others also left the club.
Guoan began its second phase of winter training in Haikou on 6 January 2025 under head coach Setién. This phase of training was set to last 21 days with multiple friendlies. The first friendly took place on 14 January against Changchun Yatai, which Guoan won 2–0 through a penalty from Zhang Xizhe and a goal from Jiang Wenhao. On 17 January, Guoan played its second training camp friendly against China League One club Chongqing Tonglianglong. Abreu, Fang Hao, Zhang Xizhe, and Nebijan helped Guoan to a 4–2 win. On 21 January, Guoan lost 2–3 to Dalian Yingbo in the team's third training match. Abreu and an opposition goal put Guoan up in the first half, but the team conceded three in the second half after rotating. Guoan won its fourth training match, played against old rival Shanghai Shenhua, 4–1 thanks to two goals from Fang Hao and one each from Feng Boxuan and Zhang Yuning. Former Guoan player Gao Tianyi scored Shenhua's lone goal. Guoan's last training match before the team's Lunar New Year break took place on 26 January against Nantong Zhiyun. Lin Liangming scored the lone goal, with Guoan winning 1–0.
On 30 January, Turkish club İstanbul Başakşehir announced that Chinese center-back Wu Shaocong was leaving the Turkish side and joining Beijing Guoan. The club announced 3 more midfield transfers to Guoan on 2 February: Serginho from Changchun Yatai, Dawhan from Gamba Osaka, and Li Ruiyue from Shanghai Jiading Huilong.
The team regrouped on 1 February and traveled to Thailand to begin its third phase of winter training. Guoan lost the first training match in Thailand against Hwaseong FC, a K League 2 club, 1–2 on 4 February. Guoan played fellow CSL team Shenzhen Peng City on 8 February in its second training match and won 4–2. Abreu scored all four goals for Guoan. On 13 February, Guoan tied Thai League 1 club Ratchaburi F.C. 1–1 in another training match thanks to a goal from Abreu. Guoan's final pre-season training match took place a day later against China League One side Liaoning Tieren. Guoan drew the game 1–1 with a goal from Zhang Yuning.
On 18 February, the last day of the winter transfer window, Guoan announced the signing of Serbian defender Uroš Spajić from Red Star Belgrade. The transfer came after the club received confirmation that Serginho's naturalization process is completed and he would be registered as a Chinese national.
Guoan's participation in the 2025–26 AFC Champions League Two was officially confirmed on 19 February. As a result of finishing 4th in the league in 2024, Guoan would qualify for the competition provided that Shandong Taishan, which finished behind Guoan and could not qualify via its domestic league rankings, did not win the 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite. On 19 February, Shandong Taishan withdrew from the group stages of the 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite as a result of sustained political controversy stirred by its fans displaying images of former South Korean dictator Chun Doo-hwan and current North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in an AFC Champions League Elite match against K League 1 side Gwangju, cementing Guoan's place in continental competition for the 2025–26 season.
February Guoan played its first league game of the season on 22 February away from home against newly promoted side Yunnan Yukun. After a dull first half, Guoan upped the pressure and scored through Abreu in the 53rd minute with Nebijan Muhmet providing the assist. Guoan doubled its lead in the 79th minute as Cao Yongjing deftly touched a rebounded corner. In the 100th minute, Bai Yang was shown a second yellow card and was sent off. Ultimately, Guoan secured its opening match with a 2–0 win.
March Guoan's second game of the season was played away from home on 1 March against old rivals Shanghai Shenhua. Guoan's new central defense signing Uroš Spajić was named in the starting lineup in his debut for the team. In the 11th minute, Guoan opened the scoring through Lin Liangming's header in a set piece situation. However, after 2 separate Guoan defensive plays were VAR-reviewed, the tide of the match shifted against Guoan. In the 38th minute, Wu Xi leveled for Shenhua after lobbing Guoan's keeper. In the 3rd minute of added time in the first half, a Han Jiaqi mistake gave away a penalty, through which Shenhua gained a 2–1 lead before halftime. Setién made several changes at the half, including debuting Guoan's other center-back signing Wu Shaocong. In the 81st minute, Zhang Yuan, who was substituted on at the beginning of the second half, was sent off after receiving a second yellow card. Despite playing a man down, Guoan leveled the game in the 93rd minute with Li Lei crossing the ball for Abreu, whose header ricocheted into the net after hitting the crossbar and then against the back of Shenhua's keeper Bao Yaxiong. The game ended in a 2–2 draw.
On 15 March, Guoan played a training match against Qingdao Hainiu to keep players sharp during the international break. Guoan won 2–1- with Fang Hao scoring a double. However, Wang Gang suffered a broken rib and Zhang Yuan a muscle strain in the match, resulting in both players being sidelined. He Yupeng was also injured around the same time, having fractured his foot in training.
On 17 March, Serginho, now known in Chinese as Sai Erjini'ao, was officially called up by the Chinese national team ahead of a World Cup qualification match against Saudi Arabia, confirming his naturalization as a Chinese player.
On 19 March, Guoan youth player Guo Jiaxuan died at 18 years of age at Beijing's Tiantan Hospital. On 6 February, He suffered a severe training injury in Spain as part of Beijing Football Association's training squad in preparation of the 2025 National Games of China that led to him being pronounced brain dead locally. He was transferred back to Beijing for medical care, but never regained consciousness.
Guoan resumed league competition on 29 March against Chengdu Rongcheng in what was also the home opener of the season. In the 12th minute, Yang Liyu was fouled in the penalty box after dribbling down the left-hand side, and the referee awarded Guoan a penalty after a lengthy video review. Abreu converted the penalty to give Guoan a 1–0 lead. In the second half, Ngadeu stepped on a Chengdu player's foot in an attempt to win back a lost ball, but the foul was deemed too aggressive and he was sent off in the 67th minute. Despite several saves from Han Jiaqi, Guoan was unable to hold the lead and conceded in the 78th minute. The game ended in a 1–1 draw with Guoan slipping to 7th place.
April A midweek match on 2 April followed the draw against Chengdu Rongcheng, with Guoan travelling to play Tianjin Jinmen Tiger. In the 5th minute, Spajić was knocked unconscious after colliding with an opposition player in an aerial duel, and was taken off in replacement by home-grown youngster Fan Shuangjie for his first appearance of the season. In the 27th minute, Li Lei received a cross from Dawhan and slotted the ball into the net, giving Guoan a 1–0 advantage. Later on in the first half, Guoan goalkeeper Han Jiaqi made two crucial saves to keep Guoan ahead. In the 70th minute and the 78th minute, Tianjin's Xie Weijun and Xadas each assisted Alberto Quiles for two goals in quick succession, and the game was turned on its head as Guoan handed Tianjin a 2–1 lead. In the first minute of second-half stoppage time, Yang Liyu's cross looped into Tianjin's penalty area, and Tianjin centre-back Yang Fan headed the ball into his own net, with the own goal leveling the game at 2–2, which finished as the full-time score, as Guoan fell to eighth place. Spajić has since regained consciousness.
Guoan returned home to play Zhejiang on 6 April. In the 21st minute, Cao Yongjing's shot from outside the box was blocked by Zhejiang defenders, but the ball fell to Abreu, who finished from a tight angle to give Guoan a 1–0 lead. Abreu's goal was Guoan's 900th goal at home. In the 56th minute, Abreu sent in a cross from the right wing, and Zhejiang defender Leung Nok Hang sent the ball into his own net in an attempt to intercept the cross, doubling Guoan's lead to 2–0. Han Jiaqi and Zhejiang's goalkeepers eachmade repeated saves, and the game ended with a 2–0 Guoan win. Guoan extended its unbeaten streak to five games, and the win helped the team move up to fifth place in the standings, two points behind the league leaders.