Yemen seal World Cup Qualifiers Round 2 spot after Sri Lanka draw

Yemen won 4-1 on aggregate

Yemen sealed their progression to the Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2 for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 after a 1-1 draw with Sri Lanka on Tuesday secured a 4-1 aggregate victory.

Yemen captain Abdulwasea Al Matari’s early opener was cancelled out by a late strike from Charitha Rathnayake in second leg at Racecourse International Stadium, but it was the West Asians who advanced to Round 2, where they will join the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and one of Nepal or Laos in Group H.

The visitors began the game strongly with Sri Lanka goalkeeper Sujan Perera needing to make a fingertip save to deny Anes Salem Al Maari’s shot from distance only three minutes in.

However, there was nothing Perera could do in the following minute when Al Matari exchanged passes from the resulting corner before firing a shot from the edge of the box that gave Yemen a 1-0 lead in the fourth minute – his second goal in as many matches for Miroslav Soukup’s side.

Recovering from the early setback, the home side battled to restore parity with Asikur Rahuman’s shot from inside the box missing the target in the 34th minute and Rifkhan Mohamed’s long throw into the penalty area creating trouble for Yemen custodian Abdullah Al Sadi who had to produce a diving save three minutes later.

Sri Lanka winger Kavindu Ishan weaved his way into the box in the 41st minute, but Al Sadi had his near post covered as the two teams went into the break with the hosts needing a big comeback to keep their FIFA World Cup hopes alive.

The second half began with the hosts winning a penalty for a handball straight from the restart when Rahuman’s shot hit Yemen substitute Hamza Hanash. But Al Sadi emerged as the hero for the visitors as he dived in the right direction to deny former Union Berlin winger Ahmed Waseem Razeek in the 47th minute.

Substitute Omar Al Dahi almost doubled the lead for Yemen in the 61st minute when his shot sailed inches over the goal before he was denied by goalkeeper Perera in the 75th minute.

Al Dahi had the ball in the back of the net in the 87th minute only for the goal to be ruled out for offside before Sri Lanka salvaged a draw in the 89th minute when their skipper Rathnayake headed home from a cross by substitute Shenal Sandesh.