Although being part of the Middle East, which is often known for its success in Asian football, Yemen is not considered as a very successful team compared to their neighbors. Despite having youth teams participate in big tournaments, notably their under-17 team who played in one FIFA U-17 World Cup, Yemen has remained under the shadow of other Arab teams, often failing to qualify for major tournaments. Since the Yemeni Civil War erupted in 2015, Yemen has been unable to play at their home ground. Against all odds, Yemen managed history and become the last Arab team in the Middle East to qualify for the AFC Asian Cup.[1] They made their tournament debut in 2019.
| AFC Asian Cup record | width=1% rowspan=39 | Qualification record | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Result | Position | ||||||||||||||
| Did not qualify | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 18 | ||||||||||
 1988 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 5 | ||||||||||
 1992 | Did not enter | |||||||||||||||
| 1996 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8 | ||||||||||
 2000 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 5 | ||||||||||
 2004 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 15 | ||||||||||
  2007 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 13 | ||||||||||
| 2011 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 9 | ||||||||||
 2015 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 18 | ||||||||||
| Group stage | 23rd | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 18 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 16 | 23 | |||
| 2023 | Did not qualify | 11 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 25 | |||||||||
 2027 | To be determined | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | |||||||||
| Total | Group stage | 1/11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 69 | 18 | 12 | 39 | 75 | 131 | ||
See main article: 2019 AFC Asian Cup.
See main article: 2019 AFC Asian Cup Group D.
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