India U20 edged past Yemen U20 1:0 in a friendly international on 23 August 2026. The visitors had held them scoreless in their previous meeting on 20 August, so this proved a different story. One goal in the dying stages settled it, and here's the thing — that's how these matches often turn.
G. Wangkheirakpam found the net in the 89th minute, and by then both sides had been testing each other for nearly an hour and a half. The goal came late, when legs were heavy and concentration frayed. To be fair, that's when one mistake ends it.
Before that moment the match had settled into a rhythm neither side could break. India had drawn 0:0 with Yemen just three days earlier, and now they'd found the breakthrough they needed. The crowd roared them on, though the sound barely carried through the final minutes.
India's recent record shows they can raise the tempo when they need to — a 4:1 win over Mongolia U20 back in September 2024, followed by losses to Iran and a draw with Laos. They've been second to everything in some fixtures, but found a way back into it here.
Yemen's form hasn't been kinder. They've drawn twice already — once against India, once against Indonesia — and lost heavily to Iran 0:6. By then they were finding it hard to keep them in it, and this result adds another chapter to that pattern.
The scoreline tells you everything, really. One goal, late, decisive. It means India pulled ahead where they'd previously been stuck, and Yemen have one more result to reflect on.