Yemen

1965–1966

A team representing the Sultanate of Lahej debuted at the 1965 Arab Games in Cairo, Egypt, losing both of their matches: 9–0 to Sudan and 16–1 to Libya. Meanwhile, despite a 4–0 drubbing by Syria, North Yemen beat Oman 2–1.

In April 1966, North Yemen debuted at the 1966 Arab Cup in Baghdad, Iraq, placed in Group 2. They lost their first match 4–1 to Syria and were then crushed 7–0 by Palestine three days later. On 5 April, they suffered an even heavier loss, 13–0 to Libya, thus finishing bottom of the group.

Also in 1966, North Yemen entered the Games of the New Emerging Forces in Cambodia and lost their opener 5–3 to Palestine.

1984–1989

Following the tournament in Cambodia, North Yemen did not play a match for eighteen years, returning in 1984 in an attempt to qualify to the 1984 Asian Cup. This was their first entrance of the competition. They were placed at the qualifiers in Group 3 with all matches held in Calcutta, India in October 1984. North Yemen lost the first match on 10 October, 6–0 to South Korea, for whom Park Sung-Hwa scored four goals and Chung Hae-Won two. Two days later, they lost 2–0 to hosts India. On 15 October North Yemen lost 4–1 to Pakistan and three days later by the same score to Malaysia. North Yemen finished at the bottom of the group.

North Yemen entered its first World Cup qualification campaign with the aim of securing a place in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. They were placed in Group 3 of the West Asia zone in the first round of the qualification campaign. North Yemen played their first match at home to Syria in Sanaa on 29 March 1985 and lost 1–0 to a 70th-minute goal. On 5 April, they lost 5–0 to Kuwait in Kuwait City. On 19 April, North Yemen lost 3–0 away to Syria at the Abbasiyyin Stadium in Damascus. On 26 April, while hosting Kuwait, North Yemen scored their only goal in the group as they lost 3–1 in front of 10,000 people.

In August 1985, North Yemen competed at the 1985 Arab Games in Rabat, Morocco and was placed in a group with Saudi Arabia, Algeria and the United Arab Emirates. They lost 2–0 to the Saudis on 5 August, 3–1 to Algeria on 7 August, and on 9 August beat the UAE 2–1 for their first ever victory.

On 15 October 1985, North Yemen played opposition from outside Asia and Africa for the first time, losing a friendly 2–0 to Mexico at home.

Reunification of the North and South (1990s)

In the 1990, the North and South of Yemen re-united which prompted what is now the national team of Yemen to be merged from North Yemen.

Upon being a new country, their captains alternated between matches to promote a "unified" Yemen.

Starting in 1993, their first big task would be the qualification to the 1994 FIFA World Cup, because they did not enter the AFC Asian Cup in 1992, nor the Arab Cup. Yemen lost three games, against China once, and Iraq twice. They drew with Jordan twice, and won against China and Pakistan. This placed them third, five points from Iraq who were first, and ultimately ended their first ever World Cup qualification campaign.

The qualification campaign for the 1996 Asian Cup saw them get thrashed by Saudi Arabia as they lost 4–0 in the first leg, but put a fight in the second leg as they lost 1–0. Despite finishing last, on points with Kyrgyzstan, Yemen's only redeeming event was a narrow 1–0 win against Kyrgyzstan, despite getting beat 3–1 in the return leg.

More years went by as Yemen continued to struggle, not only in Asia, but in the Middle East. The qualification campaign for the 1998 World Cup raised some spirits as they came in second above Indonesia and Cambodia. For the Yemenis, this was an ample progress as Uzbekistan, with 16 points, had stomped the first stage with having twice as many points as second-place Yemen at 8 points. While adding on to the fact that Yemen lost 1–0 to Uzbekistan, and despite losing 5–1 in the return leg, this gave the Yemenis a hopeful future for the upcoming tournaments.

2000s

Yemen started the millennium by attempting to qualify for the 2000 AFC Asian Cup. The Al-Yemen A'Sa'eed started off the year with a 3–0 win against Nepal following with a 0–1 loss to Turkmenistan. After this, it came to light that Kuwait had thrashed Bhutan 20–0 in the qualifiers which prompted doubt in the national team. Yemen lost 2–0 to Kuwait (with an own-goal added) and ended the qualification campaign with their highest win as they stomped Bhutan 11–2. These matches put Yemen at 6 points finishing above Nepal and Bhutan at third place of fifth.

The following year, in 2001, would be a high-point for the Yemeni fans as they watched their national team barely lose out on the advancement of the second round of the qualification campaign of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. They lost to United Arab Emirates who finished at top with 12 points while Yemen, along with India, sat at 11 points with Yemen scoring three more goals than India, despite the same goal-difference of six. They lost in both legs to United Arab Emirates.

However, for the Yemenis, disappointment would strike as they bombed their next big competition, the 2002 Arab Cup. This would be their first appearance since 1966 when they played as North Yemen, in which they also failed losing all three games and having a goal difference of −23. In 2012, they drew 2–2 with Saudi Arabia but lost to Lebanon 4–2, Bahrain 3–1 and Syria 0–4.

The qualification for the 2004 AFC Asian Cup would arrive as the next test for Yemen. The Yemenis were left stranded on the cusp of qualification as they were beat to the last spot by Indonesia by 3 points.

Days later, they would face yet another big tournament in quick succession which was the 16th Arabian Gulf Cup hosted by Kuwait. They came in dead last out of seven. They finished with 1 point, drawing with Oman and a goal difference of −16. But within a few months, the 17th Arabian Gulf Cup arrived, after their poor showing in the previous tournament. However, the Yemenis once again, to everyone's expectations, failed to register a win with the only point coming from a 1–1 draw to Bahrain while losing 0–3 to Saudi Arabia and 3–1 to Kuwait.

Yemen would next look towards the qualification campaign of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. But the Yemenis would soon end it on a short note, as they finished bottom of the group with 5 points under Thailand, United Arab Emirates and North Korea (who won the group with 11 points) and one win, two draws and three losses.