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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Days later, they would face yet another big tournament in quick succession which was the 16th Arabian Gulf Cup hosted by Kuwait.

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.

However, in 2013, Yemen would participate in the 21st Arabian Gulf Cup, and they would record their worst run in the tournament where they were grouped with Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification happened with the outbreak of the civil war, leaving majority of the national team's players and staff to escape to Djibouti by boat, which made headline by the media.

Their opening campaign was against Iran, which participated in the previous 2018 FIFA World Cup and had almost eliminated Spain in the progress.

The Yemeni side was eliminated from the group stage this time, but they managed to finish in third place, even above Lebanon and Syria, thanked for a 2–1 over the former and a 1–1 draw to the latter.

Despite this, Yemen once again failed in the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup, scoring no goal and conceded nine, but the Yemenis successfully gained a goalless draw to Iraq to win its first major point since 2014 edition.

Between these competitions, Yemen participated in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC second round where they were grouped with Uzbekistan, minnows Singapore and fellow Arab rivals Saudi Arabia and Palestine.

Yet, Yemen slumped later after receiving a 0–5 demolition from Uzbekistan, before beating Palestine 1–0 to gain its first major win in this qualification round.

Ultimately, Yemen failed to gain any further momentum, losing to both Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Palestine in the end.

On 12 October 2023, Yemen secured a 3–0 win over Sri Lanka at the Damac Club Stadium in Khamis Mushait.

[12] Yemen was drawn in the final round of the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification on Group B with Lebanon, Bhutan and Brunei.

[13] On 28 December 2024, Yemen secured their first ever win in the Arabian Gulf Cup, by achieving a 2–1 victory over Bahrain during the 26th edition.