Yemen national football team

Yemen

Nickname(s)	Al-Yemen A'sa'eed (اليمن السعيد)
Association	Yemen Football Association
Sub-confederation	WAFF (West Asia)
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Head coach	Amine Al-Sunaini
Asst coach	Abdurahman Saeed
Captain	Salem Saeed
Top scorer	Ali Al-Nono (29)
Home stadium	Althawra Sports City Stadium
FIFA code	YEM
FIFA ranking	147
Highest FIFA ranking	90 (August 1993)
Lowest FIFA ranking	163 (July 2000)
Elo ranking	137
Highest Elo ranking	124 (13 October 2010)
Lowest Elo ranking	168 (June 2004)
Home colours Away colours
First international
Sudan 9–0 North Yemen (Egypt, September 5, 1965) Malaysia 0–1 Yemen (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; September 8, 1990)
Biggest win
Yemen 11–2 Bhutan (Kuwait City, Kuwait; February 18, 2000)
Biggest defeat
Libya 16–1 Yemen (Cairo, Egypt; Date Unknown August, 1965)
Asian Cup
Appearances	1 (First in 1976)
Best result	First Round, 1976

The Yemen national football team (Arabic: منتخب اليمني لكرة القدم‎), is the national team of Yemen and is controlled by the Yemen Football Association.

When the nation was split into North Yemen and South Yemen before 1990, two national teams existed. After unification, the Yemen national football team is considered the successor of the North Yemen national football team. See the article South Yemen national football team for details on the South Yemen team.

Yemen (or North Yemen) has never appeared at a FIFA World Cup.

North Yemen

1965-1966

North Yemen debuted at the 1965 Pan Arab Games in Cairo, Egypt in August 1965. It lost its first game 9-0 to Sudan, then it lost 16-1 to Libya. After losing 4-0 to Syria, North Yemen won for the first time by defeating Oman 2-1 in the last game in the group. North Yemen did not advance.

In April 1966 the team entered the 1966 Arab Nations Cup in Baghdad, Iraq. It was placed in Group 2. North Yemen lost its first match 4-1 to Syria on 1 April, and then 7-0 to Palestine three days later. On 5 April they lost their last match 13-0 to Libya, and were eliminated, finishing bottom of the group.

Also in 1966, North Yemen entered the Games of the Emerging Forces in Cambodia. They lost their opener 5-3 against Palestine. The remaining games in their group were lost 8-0 to the hosts Cambodia, 9-0 to North Vietnam, 14-0 to North Korea and 6-0 to China.

1984-1989

Following the tournament in Cambodia, North Yemen did not play a match for eighteen years, returning in 1984 to attempt 1984 AFC Asian Cup qualification. This was their first entrance of the competition. They were placed in qualification Group 3 with all matches held in Calcutta, India in October 1984. North Yemen lost the first match on 10 October, 6-0 to South Korea, for whom Park Sung-Hwa scored four goals and Chung Hae-Won two. Two days later they lost 2-0 to hosts India. On 15 October North Yemen lost 4-1 to Pakistan and three days later by the same score to Malaysia. North Yemen finished bottom of the group.

North Yemen entered its first World Cup qualification campaign with the aim of securing a place in the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. They were placed in Group 3 of the West Asia zone in the first round of qualification. North Yemen played their first match at home to Syria in Sana'a on 29 March 1985 and lost 1-0 to a 70th minute goal. On 5 April they lost 5-0 to Kuwait in Kuwait City. On 19 April North Yemen lost 3-0 away to Syria at the Abbasiyin Stadium in Damascus. On 26 April, while hosting Kuwait, North Yemen scored their only goal in the group as they lost 3-1 in front of 10,000 people.

In August 1985, North Yemen compted at the 1985 Pan Arab Games in Rabat, Morocco and was placed in a group with Saudi Arabia, Algeria and the United Arab Emirates. They lost 2-0 to the Saudis on 5 August, 3-1 to Algeria on 7 August and then, on 9 August, beat the UAE 2-1 for their first ever victory.

On 15 October 1985, North Yemen played opposition from outside Asia and Africa for the first time, losing a friendly 2-0 to Mexico at home.

Competition records

World Cup record

World Cup Finals										World Cup Qualifications
Year	Result	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA		GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1994	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		8	3	2	3	12	13
1998	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		6	2	2	2	10	7
2002	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		6	3	2	1	8	6
2006	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		6	1	2	3	6	11
2010	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		4	1	1	2	4	4
2014	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		2	0	1	1	0	2
Total	-		-	-	-	-	-	-		32	10	10	12	40	43

AFC Asian Cup record

Asian Cup Finals										Asian Cup Qualifications
Year	Result	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA		GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1992	Did not enter	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1996	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		4	1	0	3	2	8
2000	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		4	2	0	2	14	5
2004	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		6	2	1	3	15	15
2007	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		6	2	0	4	5	13
2011	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		6	2	1	3	7	9
Total	Best: -		''	''	''	''	''	''		26	9	2	15	43	50

Gulf Cup of Nations record

Gulf Cup
Year	Result	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
2003	7/7	6	0	1	5	2	18
2004	Group Stage	3	0	1	2	2	7
2007	Group Stage	3	0	1	2	3	5
2009	Group Stage	3	0	0	3	2	11
2010	Group Stage	3	0	0	3	1	9
Total	Best: Group Stage	18	0	3	15	10	50

Arab Nations Cup

Arab Nations Cup
Year	Result	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1963 to 1992	Did not enter	-	-	-	-	-	-
1998	Withdrew	-	-	-	-	-	-
2002	Group Stage	4	0	1	3	5	13
Total	Best: Group Stage	4	0	1	3	5	13

Current squad

0#0 Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Muaadh Abdulkhalek 2 January 1972 (aged 38) 2 0 Al-Oruba (Zabid) 12 GK Mohammed Ayash 3 June 1986 (aged 24) 4 0 Al-Hilal Al-Sahili 25 GK Salem Saeed 1 January 1984 (aged 26) 54 0 Al-Hilal 2 DF Basem Al-Aqel 1 December 1990 (aged 19) 8 1 5 DF Zaher Mohammed Farid 6 July 1986 (aged 24) 18 1 6 DF Ahmed Al-Wadi 6 June 1985 (aged 25) 3 0 Al-Tilal 13 DF Khaleed Tahesh 11 May 1981 (aged 29) 2 0 16 DF Khaled Baleid 2 November 1986 (aged 24) 21 2 Al-Tilal 19 DF Yasser Al-Baadani 2 February 1986 (aged 24) 4 0 36 DF Aref Thabit Al Dali 12 August 1976 (aged 34) 7 0 40 DF Ahmed Al Khamri 4 August 1983 (aged 27) 0 0 Al Sha'ab Ibb 3 MF Mohammed Al-Ammari 13 February 1986 (aged 24) 0 0 Al Sha'ab Ibb 7 MF Ali Alomki 2 July 1984 (aged 26) 0 0 11 MF Haitham Thabit 6 February 1986 (aged 24) 0 0 15 MF Akram Al-Worafi 12 November 1986 (aged 24) 0 0 Al Sha'ab Ibb 38 MF Munassar Ba Haj 1 January 1990 (aged 20) 0 0 Al-Hilal 47 MF Hamada Al Zubairi 12 October 1977 (aged 33) 0 0 Al-Ahli 8 FW Yasser Basuhai 27 March 1979 (aged 31) 0 0 Al-Hilal 10 FW Ali Al-Nono (Captain) 7 June 1980 (aged 30) 0 29 Al-Ahli 20 FW Nashwan Al Haggam 8 September 1985 (aged 25) 0 0 Al Rasheed Ta'izz 22 FW Tamer Hanash 3 January 1986 (aged 24) 0 0 24 FW Fekri Al-Hubaishi 18 April 1978 (aged 32) 0 0 Al Sha'ab Ibb

Coaches

Name	Nat	Period
Hazem Jassam		1997
Luciano de Abroue		2001
Milan Živadinović		2003 – March 2004
Rabah Saâdane		2004–2005
Mohsen Saleh		2007 – Jan 2009
Hamza Al Jamal		Jan 2009 (caretaker)
Sami Hasan Al Nash		Jan 2009 – Oct 2009
Srecko Juricic		Nov 2009 – Dec 2010
Amine Al-Sunaini		Dec 2010 –

Kit Providers

• Adidas
• Uhlsport

See Also

• Yemen national under-17 football team
• Yemen national under-20 football team
• Yemen national under-23 football team

External links

• Official site
• RSSSF: Yemen – List of International Matches
• – Current squad of the national team (2010)