Hong Kong’s World Cup qualifier versus China explained: We’ve got history

There will be a lot of police on duty

There will be one police officer for every five spectators. A massive police presence rivalling the numbers deployed during the Occupy protests at Mong Kok has been announced. Authorities say there will only be a small number of officers inside the stadium, while the bulk of the force will be outside, guarding against any disturbance after the match, and on call.

The crowd will be separated – and smaller than hoped

Nearly 4,000 tickets have been sold for the game at Mong Kok Stadium, despite the Hong Kong Football Association requesting the game be played at the 40,000-seat Hong Kong Stadium. All Hong Kong fans have had to show their ID cards to purchase tickets – and will have to show their ID cards again to get into the stadium. There are 500 fans coming from mainland China to watch the match.

There will close attention paid to the singing of the national anthem

WATCH: Hongkongers booed the National Anthem in June

WATCH: Hongkongers again booed the National Anthem when the team played Qatar in September

China got a bit personal about the Hong Kong team earlier this year

The Chinese Football Association put out posters in June this year pointing out that Hong Kong’s team has “black skin, yellow skin and white skin people”, and that “playing a team with such diverse background, you’d better be prepared”. This was met by a response from the Hong Kong Football Association on Facebook, with a poster saying:

“Don’t let other people look down (on you)”

“Our soccer team has black skin, yellow skin, and white skin,

“The goal is the same to fight for Hong Kong,

“You are Hongkongers so you must support us!”