Sri Lanka-Yemen FIFA World Cup Qualifier today

Sri Lanka Football Squad: Charitha Ratnayake (Captain), Harsha Fernando, Chalana Chameera, Sujan Perera, Prabath Arunasiri, Asikur Rahaman, Mohamed Aman, Kaveesh Fernando, Shenal Pingho, Mariyathas Nitharshan, Naushad Mohamed, Jude Supun, Faizal Aakid, Waseem Razeek, Mohamed Shifan, Chathuranga Madushan, Mohamed Shabeer, Chamod Dilshan, Rifkhan Mohamed, Kavindu Ishan, Naizeer Mohamed, Senan de Silva and Aris Mohamed

BY SUSIL PREMALAL

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has made arrangements for the first leg of the FIFA World Cup 2026 and the AFC Asia Cup 2027 Qualifying Round One match between Sri Lanka and Yemen at the Abha Stadium in Saudi Arabia, today. This will be the first international match for the Sri Lanka national team after almost a year because of the FIFA ban. Yemen are ranked 156th and Sri Lanka are ranked 202 in the FIFA World Rankings.

This is the first time Sri Lanka and Yemen are playing against each other. After five weeks of training, the team’s Head Coach Andrew Johnson said that they would play to their strength. Long-standing Sri Lanka Captain and professional Sujan Perera will not be wearing the armband. Football Sri Lanka (FSL) has decided to name Charitha Ratnayake, an experienced senior player as the Captain for the first leg and Harsha Fernando for the second leg to be held in Colombo on October 17. This is the first time the Sri Lanka Football Team has different captains within five days of a competition.

The two captains are appointed on an interim basis for these games and FSL hopes to finalise a long-term captain after the World Cup qualifying matches.