# Yemen Football in Civil War

> Yemen's national team plays Gulf Cup despite civil war.
- Title: Yemen Football in Civil War · the Guardian | Shortify
- Summary: Yemen's national team plays Gulf Cup despite civil war. Yemen's national football team qualifies for Asian Cup after civil war, aiming to give the world a…
- Keywords: yemen, gulf cup, asian cup, yemen national team, noureddine ould ali, houthi, saudi arabia, football, civil war, qatar, united arab emirates, bahrain
- Source: the Guardian — https://theguardian.com/football/2026/oct/01/yemen-football-civil-war-gulf-cup
- Published: 2026-10-01T13:23:17+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: yemen, gulf cup, asian cup, yemen national team, noureddine ould ali, houthi, saudi arabia, football, civil war, qatar, united arab emirates, bahrain
## Yemen football history
Yemen have not played a home game since 2012 but football remains a religion to the Yemeni people.

> Yemen have not played a home game since 2012, but football remains ‘a religion’ to the Yemeni people
## Yemen national team loss
Yemen lost 1-0 to Qatar in Gulf Cup group stage after a penalty not given.

> The Reds crashed out of the eight-team regional tournament, taking place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with a game of the group stage remaining
## Yemen's preparation
Yemen trained in Aden before joining squad in Jeddah for Gulf Cup.

> The situation in Aden was OK. We tried our best and had a training camp with local players and then we joined up with the rest of the squad in Jeddah
## Yemen's challenges
Yemen faces civil war with Houthis controlling capital and Saudi-led intervention.

> Two years later, the capital city came under the control of the Houthis, an Iran-backed militant group, provoking a Saudi-led intervention and years of fighting
## Yemen's league status
Yemen's league stopped for years and restarted this year with first half completed.

> The league stopped for a long time and restarted this year and they finished the first half of the season
## Yemen's coach background
Noureddine Ould Ali coached Palestine before Yemen and has geopolitics experience.

> Ould Ali spent three years in charge of Palestine from 2018 to 2021, after more than four years as an assistant coach
## Yemen's Asian Cup qualification
Yemen qualified for Asian Cup in January after defeating Lebanon in Gulf Cup.

> In June, Yemen, slightly surprisingly, defeated Lebanon to become the last team to qualify for the quadrennial tournament
## Key takeaway

Yemen's national football team qualifies for Asian Cup after civil war, aiming to give the world a different headline.