Wu Lei

Shanghai SIPG

Wu started his football career playing for third-tier side Shanghai East Asia, making his debut for the club on 2 September 2006 in a 5–3 loss against Yunnan Lijiang Dongba, making him the youngest ever player to play professional Chinese football aged 14 years and 287 days. He helped the club win the third tier title and promotion to the second tier at the end of the 2007 league season. He scored his first goal for the club on 30 August 2008 in a 2–0 win against Qingdao Hailifeng. This made him the second youngest goalscorer in Chinese football aged 16 years and 289 days, just 47 days behind Cao Yunding's record. On 8 March 2013, Wu scored on his Chinese Super League debut, in a 4–1 away defeat at Beijing Guoan. Wu scored a hat-trick on 2 June 2013 in a 6–1 win against Shanghai Shenxin, becoming the second youngest player to score a hat-trick in the top tier. He scored his second hat-trick of the season on 18 August 2013 in a 3–2 win against Tianjin Teda. He scored his third hat-trick of the season on 27 September 2013 in a 6–1 win against Qingdao Jonoon. On 31 July 2016, Wu became the first Chinese footballer in over two years to score a hat-trick in the Chinese Super League in a 3–3 draw against Guangzhou R&F. On 18 March 2018, he scored four goals in a 5–2 win against Guangzhou R&F, becoming the second Chinese footballer to score four goals in a league match after Li Jinyu. On 11 August 2018, Wu scored his 89th Chinese Super League goal in a 2–0…

Wu was called up to the Chinese under-20 national team in 2009 and scored nine goals in five matches during the 2010 AFC U-19 Championship qualification matches. His impressive goalscoring performances saw him called up to the Chinese national team for the 2010 East Asian Football Championship, making his debut on 14 February 2010 in a 2–0 win against Hong Kong. Several months later, Wu returned to the under-20 national team for the 2010 AFC U-19 Championship and he played in four games and score two goals while he aided China to the quarterfinals by the end of the tournament. He scored his first goal for China on 28 July 2013 in a 4–3 win against Australia at the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup. On 11 January 2019, Wu scored twice in a 3–0 win against Philippines at the group stage of 2019 AFC Asian Cup. On 8 October 2021, Wu scored twice in a 3–2 win against Vietnam in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification, including heading in an injury time winner. Wu was named in China's squad for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar. He was heavily criticised for missing an open goal in the second group stage game against Lebanon which finished goalless. China failed to score a single goal in the tournament and was eliminated after the group stage. Wu achieved his 100th cap for China in a 2-1 friendly victory over Singapore at the Jalan Besar Stadium on 5 June 2026, coming on in the 81st minute.

Wu was born in Nanjing and developed a passion for football at an early age. Turned down by Jiangsu Sainty's youth academy for being too small, Wu took a recommendation letter from former Chinese footballer Li Hongbing and went to Shanghai to apply for the Genbao Football Base in 2003. After watching a single training session of Wu, Xu Genbao, the founder and owner of Genbao Football Base, decided to recruit Wu. Later in 2005, Wu and his teammates joined Shanghai East Asia, which was jointly founded by Xu Genbao.

Wu is of Hui ethnicity. Wu Lei was described as a shy person in his youth, and he sought football as an effort to overcome family hardship. He married his girlfriend Zhong Jiabei (仲佳蓓) in 2014 and has two children, a daughter and a son.