They don’t even get to play the only team they beat in their opening game, the Ivory Coast, back when there was hope they would qualify by beating Poland or Venezuela.

Questions are now being asked of the basketball team. Fans in Beijing’s Cadillac Arena called for coach Li Nan’s sacking during the loss to the South Americans, while Yao Ming’s time in charge of the CBA is also under scrutiny.

Some are also wondering whether the defeat means Chinese basketball will soon follow football’s naturalisation policy.

The biggest question is where they finish overall. There is a chance that the hosts could yet finish dead last. Even still, a best possible finish of 17th is a poor return in a World Cup on home soil.

But it is the worst ever? Here are some of the worst results by the hosts of major sporting events.

England – Cricket World Cup 1999

The hosts finished fourth in their group of six and with the top three teams advancing, it meant an early exit for England. Their shame was compounded by finishing behind Zimbabwe and India, who had both also won three games and lost two in the groups so had six points like England. Worse still, the hosts were out of the tournament before the official song had been released. It has since been described as a “nightmare” and the “perfect storm of incompetence”.

Brazil – Fifa World Cup 2014

When compared to hosts South Africa going out in the group stages in 2010, reaching the World Cup semi-finals is the kind of performance most countries can only dream of. But things are a little different when you are the record five-time winners of the tournament and the final will be played in Rio’s Maracana. Brazil had cruised through the group stages and all was well until star man Neymar was injured in the second-round win over Colombia. That ended his tournament and soon Germany ended the nation’s hopes in even crueller fashion, the 7-1 defeat a national humiliation that ended several international careers.

Canada – Montreal Olympics 1976

Oh, Canada. The anthem may have been written for the ignominy of the worst ever Summer Games haul by a host. Canada finished 27th on the medal table at the end of the Games – zero gold, five silver and six bronzes – to finish behind such sporting powerhouses as North Korea and Trinidad & Tobago. It could have been even worse had 29 countries not boycotted the event, while the return of zero golds is the only time a host has managed the feat in a Summer Games since 1896.

England – Rugby World Cup 2015

The English have a special knack for disappointing on the biggest stage and, as if to prove the point, they seem happy to do it on home soil. Defeats by Wales and Australia in the group stage meant England became the first host to not make it through to the knockouts – only Australia, co-hosts in 1992 had previously managed that.

Australia – Cricket World Cup 1992

It was a tournament that was memorable for being the first played in the southern hemisphere, the first to feature South Africa and the first with both white balls and coloured uniforms, but it was one to forget for Australia. It all started badly with the loss to co-hosts New Zealand but it got worse. They finished in fifth on the nine-team table with only the top four teams, including New Zealand, going through to the semi-finals. Australia, the reigning champions watched on from the sidelines.