The 2024 season was Beijing Guoan F.C.'s 60th season in Chinese football competitions. This season marked the club's 21st consecutive season in the Chinese Super League since the league's inaugural season in 2004, and it was the club's 34th consecutive season in the top-flight of Chinese football. It covered a period from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024.
Guoan finished 4th in the domestic league, and was a quarter-finalist in the season's edition of the Chinese FA Cup. Guoan also qualified for the 2025–26 AFC Champions League Two.
Summary
Pre-season Guoan players returned to training in Beijing on 2 January ahead of the team's planned winter training camp in Portugal. Full-back He Yupeng was on a trial at Guoan as he participated in training sessions. Gao Tianyi did not participate in the initial training and later announced his departure from the club on social media on 5 January.
On 10 January, Guoan players traveled to Portugal to begin the team's first training camp. Guoan played a training match against Portimonense's U-23 team and won 5–1 on 18 January. On 24 January, Guoan played Portuguese fourth-tier club Louletano and won 3–1 thanks to goals from Fábio Abreu, Zhang Xizhe, and Wang Ziming.
On 27 January, Guoan's pre-season training continued with back-to-back friendlies with Czech side Slavia Prague. In the first match, despite Abreu scoring in the 2nd minute, Guoan went on to concede 3 in the second half and lost 1–3. In the second match, a rotated team held on to a 0–0 draw.
Continuing its pre-season training camp, Guoan played against two training matches on 31 January. In the morning, the team played against Portuguese team Moncarapachense and won 2–0 thanks to goals from Yu Dabao. In the afternoon, Guoan played against Faroese club KÍ as part of the Atlantic Cup tournament with Guoan winning 1–0 thanks to an Abreu goal in the 5th minute. On the same day, the club also announced contract extension with Zhang Yuning, Hou Sen, Yang Liyu, Li Ke, Zhang Chengdong, and Jiang Wenhao.
2 February saw Rio Ave, former club for Portuguese player Guga, announce his transfer to Beijing Guoan.
Guoan played 2 further training matches on 6 February, the last day of the team's Portugal training, winning 1–0 against Louletano and 2–0 against Farense.
The team returned for Guoan on 8 February with plans of regrouping on the 13 February in Guangzhou after the Chinese New Year celebration. On the same day, the club announced a contract extension to the end of 2025 with manager Ricardo Soares. The league calendar was also announced on 8 February, and Guoan is set to start of the season with 3 away games against Cangzhou Mighty Lions, Shangdong Tainshan, and Wuhan Three Towns respectively.
On 13 February, the team gathered in Guangdong to start the next winter training camp ahead of the season. The next day, Guoan officially announced the signing of Mamadou Traoré, He Yupeng, Guga, Lin Liangming, and Zhang Yixuan. He and Lin transferred from the disbanded Dalian Pro, Traoré came from Qatari club Muaither, and Zhang Yixuan came from Hubei Istar. The players would wear number 2, 3, 8, 11, and 40 respectively. The same day, Croatian media reports that Marko Dabro, who spent the last season on loan at Latvian club Riga, has signed for Croatian side Varaždin as his contract with Guoan was terminated by mutual agreement.
Guoan played a friendly against Yunnan Yukun on 19 February in the team's Guangdong training sessions. 3 periods of 40 minutes were played with Guoan emerging victorious thanks Zhang Xizhe assist a header from Wang Ziming in the third period. Guoan's last set of friendly games came on 24 February. The team won 2–0 against Guangxi Pingguo Haliao thanks to goals from new arrivals Guga and Lin Liangming, but lost 2–3 to Liaoning Tieren with Yang Liyu and Samuel Adegbenro scoring Guoan's two goals.
Ahead of the start of the new season on 28 February, Soares announced that the club has registered Adegbenro ahead of Kang Sang-Woo for the beginning of the season. Per CSL rules, Kang would not be able to participate in club matches until at least the start of the summer window when registration is again possible. Soares said the decision was difficult, but Adegbenro was picked in the end due to being better in 1-on-1 situations comparatively.
March Guoan played its first league game of the season on 2 March away at Cangzhou Mighty Lions. The team lined up in a new 3-4-3 formation: Traoré, Ngadeu-Ngadjui and Bai Yang lined up as a back three behind Guga and Chi Zhongguo, Li Lei and Wang Gang provided support from the flanks, and Zhang Yuning, Abreu and Lin Liangming led the line. Guoan opened the scoring in the 14th minute as Wang Gang provided a cross for Zhang Yuning to finish inside the box and score on his 100th appearance for Guoan. Following the goal, goalkeeper Hou Sen made a number of important saves and interventions to keep Cangzhou at bay. In the third minute of added time in the second half, Adegbenro was tripped inside Cangzhou's box and won a penalty, which substitute Yang Liyu finished with a powerful shot up high. Guoan notched its first victory of the season with the 2–0 win. New singing He Yupeng also made his debut in the game, replacing a tired Wang Gang at the left wing-back position in the 86th minute.
The club bid farewell to Kang Sang-woo, whose spot on the team was given to Adegbenro after the winter transfer window, on 6 March with the club announcing officially that his contract was terminated. He joined the team ahead of the 2022 season and scored 13 goals and provided 12 assists across 59 games in all competitions during his time with the team. He later signed for Korean K League 1 club FC Seoul.
Guoan travelled to play Shandong Taishan on matchday 2 on 9 March. Guoan lined up similar to last week with a recovered Li Ke taking the place of Chi Zhongguo. Shandong, however, rotated heavily from their midweek AFC Champions League lineup with only 2 players starting both games. Abreu missed a good chance in the 4th minute, and the scoreline remained 0–0 at half-time. In the 53rd minute, Zhang Yuning tried an overhead pass, and Abreu slotted it into the net; however, the goal was ruled offside due to referees judging Lin Liangming, who made no contact with the ball, started his motion in an offside position and impeded defence. Guoan had a number of opportunities late in the game, but failed to score. The game ended in a 0–0 draw. Wang Gang, who started the game but was substituted off in the 60th minute due to having been subjected to two strong tackles from Shandong players, was confirmed on 10 March to have suffered a hairline fracture of his fibula in his left leg and is expected to be absent from the team for 2 months.
As Li Ke, Li Lei, Lin Liangming, and Zhang Yuning travelled for international break, Guoan played a training match against Cangzhou Mighty Lions on 17 March with Guoan winning 6–1. Abreu contributed 3 goals, Cao Yongjing 2, and Nebijan Muhmet the last. Guoan played another training match on 23 March with Qingdao Hainiu and won 2–1. Hainiu scored first, but Zhang Xizhe leveled with a direct free kick, and a Fang Hao assist for Abreu helped turn the game around.
In the afternoon on 30 March, Guoan travelled to Wuhan to face Wuhan Three Towns in the first league fixture after the international break. He Yupeng replaced the injured Wang Gang in the starting line-up while Yang Liyu started for the first time this season with Zhang Yuning being rested. Little occurred in the first half with media observing both teams played defensively and knocked passes around the back line instead of forward. Li Lei provided a threatening cross into the box immediately after the break, but Lin Liangming's header was saved by Wuhan's goalie. Seeking change in the attack, Soares brought on Adegbenro and Fang Hao, and both players helped Guoan open up the game. in the 74th minute, a He Yupeng cross from the right reached Adegbenro, who knocked the ball back across the box to Abreu, and Abreu finished with an overhead kick that ended in the back of the net and giving Guoan a 1–0 lead. Traoré cleared a Wuhan header off the line in the 93rd minute, and the game ended in a 1–0 victory for Guoan. The game, Guoan's first win ever against Three Towns, helped the team end its three-game away sequence with 2 wins and a draw and sending the team up to 4th place. After Abreu scored his goal, Guoan players celebrated by lifting up a shirt that read "Yang Xue Fight On ()," showing support to a long-term Guoan fan who was fighting severe illness. She died a few days after the match, and Guoan CEO Zhou Jinhui announced that her seat in the Workers' Stadium will not accommodate other supporters in the future. Abreu was nominated for player of the matchday for his goal.
April
On 5 April, Guoan played its first match in front of the home crowd this season against the reigning champions, Shanghai Port. Ahead of the game, fans from both teams commemorated the passing Guoan supporter Yang Xue in a stadium-wide ceremony. For the game itself, Zhang Xizhe started his first game of the season after serving his cross-season 7-game suspension, and Jiang Wenhao replaced Li Lei in the line-up for his first appearance of the season. Guoan conceded first in the 10th minute from a corner as Wu Lei scored from outside the box from a corner with no Guoan players defending the edge of the penalty area. In the 13th minute, Abreu was withdrawn due to injury suffered in the opening minutes with Zhang Yuning suiting up. In the 27th minute, Guoan levelled the game as Bai Yang, venturing up the field, knocked the ball across the edge of Port's box and found Guga, who comfortably placed the ball into the goal. A Port goal was ruled off in the 33rd minute as the referee judged the attacking player roughed goalkeeper Hou Sen. At halftime, Soares replaced Lin Liangming with Adegbenro. In the 66th minute, another Port goal was written off as the attacking movement was offside. In the 81st minute, Guoan substitute Fang Hao was tripped by Port player in the box, and the referee awarded Guoan a penalty, which Zhang Yuning finished to give Guoan a 2–1 lead. However, the team failed to hold onto the lead, as they conceded from a Wu Lei header in the sixth minute of added time. Guoan drew the game 2–2 in the end but remain four games unbeaten so far this season.
Just 4 days later, Guoan lined up in Workers' Stadium against newly promoted Shengzhen Peng City. Soares rotated the wingers, opting to start Cao Yongjing and Fang Hao, and played a 4-3-3 instead of the 3-4-3 that the team used in previous games. In the 23rd minute, Ngadeu-Ngadjui conceded a free kick just outside the box after having been judged to have handed the ball. Li Zhi's attempt was deflected into the net by a Guoan player, handing Guoan a 0–1 deficit. In the 39th minute, Zhang Yuning scored off of a Cao Yongjing cross, but the latter was judged to have committed a foul on a Shenzhen player in the attacking action and the goal was thus ruled out after review. In the 64th minute, He Yupeng handled the ball with his hand inside the box, and Guoan went two goals down after Shenzhen's Edu García converted from the spot. In the 90th minute, Adebgenro was fouled inside Shenzhen's box, and the referee awarded Guoan a penalty after a 5-minute review. Zhang Xizhe scored from the penalty kick, halving Guoan's deficit. However, despite bringing on multiple attacking players, Guoan ultimately failed to make additional inroads, and ended the match with a 1–2 loss, the team's first of the season.