Ahead of the 2026 AFC U17 Championship finals, Yemen's football leaders have expressed their ambition to compete for a ticket to the U17 World Cup. Accordingly, Mr. Rajih Al-Qadami - Deputy Head of the U17 Yemen delegation emphasized that the team aims to repeat the achievement of participating in the world arena in 2002.
We came to Saudi Arabia to play and want to repeat the historic achievement of 2002, which was a ticket to the World Cup. Young Yemeni players are very talented. They are capable of doing that," said Mr. Rajih Al-Qadami.
Not only setting professional goals, U17 Yemen also expects cheers from domestic fans, especially fans living in Saudi Arabia, to add strength to the team in the match against U17 Vietnam in the opening match.
According to Yemeni media, many fans were present at the team's hotel to encourage the players. It is expected that they will continue to come to the stadium to create a passionate atmosphere.
However, U17 Yemen also faces many limitations before the opening day. This team only started gathering from mid-April before moving to Saudi Arabia on April 25. Short preparation time makes it difficult for the coaching staff to complete tactics and assemble the squad.
U17 Yemen's friendly form is also not positive. In the most recent match in Jeddah, they lost to U17 Uzbekistan with a score of 1-2 and revealed gaps in defense.
In addition, U17 Yemen also lacks personnel when they cannot add 6 young players playing in Saudi Arabia as initially planned. This is considered a big loss for the West Asian team before the match against U17 Vietnam taking place at 0:00 on May 7.
