The UAE national team loses to Yemen in the Asian Junior Cup

The UAE junior national team lost to its Yemeni counterpart 2-3, today, Sunday, at Stadium A in King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in the second round of the third group competitions in the 2026 AFC U-17 Cup finals, qualifying for the 2026 World Cup finals.

The Yemeni team won its first three points in the tournament, while the “White Juniors” remained with one point, which it obtained by drawing against South Korea in the first round, and it awaits an important confrontation against Vietnam.

Although “Abyad Al-Nasheen” scored the lead goal in the match, the Yemeni team was able to come back by scoring two goals, before Al-Abyad equalized the score again, and then the Yemeni team returned to the lead again, scoring the winning goal in the decisive time in the 85th minute.

Hussein Youssef Ali scored for the national team in the 25th minute, and Abdullah Awad Al Marri in the 62nd minute, while Ali Al-Mughdi scored for the Yemen national team in the 49th minute, Silan Bashir in the 53rd minute, and Muhammad Sadiq in the 85th minute.

In the same group, the South Korean national team defeated Vietnam by four goals to one, raising its score to four points at the top of the group, while the Vietnam national team remained with three points, which it obtained by defeating Yemen in the first round.

The first-round matches are played in a single-round league system, with the first and second-place finishers from each group qualifying directly to the quarter-finals, while the second-stage matches are held in a knockout system, starting from the quarter-finals and ending with the final match.

The eight teams that reach the quarter-finals qualify directly to the U-17 World Cup.