Sri Lanka, the 200th ranked team in the world beat the 166th ranked Chinese Taipei in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifier third round (Group D) game played at the Colombo Racecourse yesterday (10) on a gloomy and slightly underfoot weather. With this win Sri Lanka stamped their authority in their overall head to head tally against Chinese Taipei since the first meeting in 2003.

The first half of the game was a stop-start affair as both teams went into lemons 0-0. Sri Lanka led by goalkeeper-skipper Sujan Perera will definitely have a world of confidence going into their future games with back-to-back victorious runs. The Lankans got the better of Brunei 1-0 a few weeks ago in a FIFA International Friendly in Thailand.

Sri Lanka’s Adhavan Rajamohan (15) who plays for IFK Haninge in Sweden, finally kickstarted the game as he scored the opening goal of the match in the 49th minute as loud roars swept across the stadium with a decent crowd in attendance amidst showers on a Poya day.

Dillon de Silva (12) struck back yet again for Lanka in the 53rd minute to take a splendid 2-0 lead to put the hosts on top.

Former skipper Waseem Razick, the veteran entertainer, showed that he still got the goods to deliver as he scored Sri Lanka’s third goal to seal the game in scintillating fashion.

W.C. Huang of Chinese Taipei added the solitary goal for the visitors in the 70th minute.

Sri Lanka is now placed third in Group D behind Thailand and Turkmenistan.

Upcoming AFC Asian Cup fixtures-SL

9 Oct. 2025: SL vs. Turkmenistan

14 Oct. 2025: Turkmenistan vs. SL

18 Nov. 2025: SL vs. Thailand

31 March 2026: Chinese Taipei vs. SL

Currently, Sri Lanka vs. Chinese Taipei stands 4 wins for SL and 1 draw