Sri Lanka shock Chinese Taipei 3-1 in AFC qualifier

Sri Lanka beat Chinese Taipei 3-1 in Matchday 2 of the AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifying Round 3, Group D, on Tuesday (June 10) at the Colombo Racecourse.

Adhavan Rajamohan, Dillion De Silva and Ahmed Waseem Razeek scored for Sri Lanka within the span of 10 minutes in the second half while Huang Wei-chieh scored a consolation goal for Chinese Taipei in the 70th minute.

Sri Lanka get their first 3 points in Group D after a dominant win against a higher-ranked Chinese Taipei team. 

Before today’s match, both teams were without a point in Group D, which also includes Thailand and Turkmenistan--each having lost their opening fixtures.

Sri Lanka suffered a narrow 0-1 defeat to Thailand in Bangkok, with Gustavsson’s first-half strike proving decisive in their matchday 1 fixture. 

Meanwhile, Chinese Taipei went down 1-2 against Turkmenistan at home, despite Kouame cancelling out Tagayew’s opener before Gurbanow netted the winner in the 83rd minute in Kaohsiung.

The third round of AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualifying features 24 teams comprising the three best-ranked losing sides from the first round, 18 third and fourth-placed teams from the second round, and three play-off round winners. 

These teams have been divided into six groups of four, with each group playing home-and-away double round-robin matches. Only the group winners will secure the remaining six spots at the AFC Asian Cup 2027.

--With Agencies Inputs