Kuwait seeks strong finish against Cambodia in U-20 Asian Cup qualifiers

Kuwait’s U-20 national team will close its AFC U-20 Asian Cup qualifying campaign against Cambodia in Phnom Penh, needing an unlikely combination of results to keep its qualification hopes alive.

The match will take place at 3 p.m. at the National Sports Complex Stadium. Japan will meet Yemen at the same time in the group’s other final-round fixture.

Kuwait opened the campaign with a 4-0 defeat by Japan and then lost 3-1 to Yemen. Those results left the Blue side without a point from its first two matches. Japan leads Group G with six points, while Cambodia and Yemen have three apiece. Kuwait sits last.

The group winner will qualify automatically for next year’s finals in China. The seven best second-placed teams from the eight qualifying groups will also advance. Kuwait’s route through that second-placed ranking is extremely narrow: it must beat Cambodia by more than one goal and hope Yemen loses to Japan by six goals. Kuwait has a goal difference of minus six, compared with plus one for Yemen and minus seven for Cambodia.