《TAIPEI TIMES》Taiwan clear first World Cup hurdle

Blue wINGS: Naturalized Taiwanese Ange Samuel Kouame shined on scoring, while goalkeeper Pan Wen-chieh held East Timor to ensure the win in Kaohsiung

By Jason Pan / Staff reporter

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Taiwan on Tuesday beat East Timor 3-0 in Kaohsiung to advance to the next round of qualifying in the Asian Football Confederation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Taiwan scored all of their goals in a six-minute blitz in the first half to defeat East Timor, who also lost to Taiwan 4-0 in the first leg of the first round on Thursday last week.

East Timor played both of their matches in the series at the National Stadium in Kaohsiung due to infrastructure problems at the National Stadium in Dili.

On Tuesday, Taiwan sported their white away uniforms, after the Blue Wings wore their home blue jerseys last week.

Forward Yu Chia-huang opened the scoring in the 18th minute, shooting past goalkeeper Filonito Nogueira, who let the ball squeeze under him and roll into the net.

Yu was assisted by Taiwan Steel teammate Ange Samuel Kouame. The naturalized player from the Ivory Coast made his debut on the national team last month in international friendlies against the Philippines and Singapore.

Three minutes after Yu’s goal, the Blue Wings doubled the lead when Kouame dashed past East Timor’s defense to fire a shot from the right. Nogueira saved the attempt, but striker Wu Yen-shu picked up the rebound to score.

Taiwan grabbed the final goal of the match in the 24th minute, when winger Fong Shao-chi sent a high cross from the left flank, which Kouame sent into the net with header.

That virtually assured Taiwan a victory as they already had a four-goal lead from last week’s match.

Along with Kouame’s creativity, goalkeeper Pan Wen-chieh also shined, making a string of outstanding saves to preserve the first-leg shutout.

East Timor mounted repeated attacks, trying to get on the board. Pan palmed off a quick shot from striker Joao Pedro inside the box in the 25th minute, and soon after made a flying save on a long-range drive, also from Pedro.

Before halftime, Pan made another big save on a free-kick that was heading into the top corner, which he tipped over the upright. He was kept busy until time, as Taiwan’s defense helped to hold off East Timor.

“We are thankful for the support from fans, media and team staff to get this win and move ahead to the next round,” captain Wu Chun-ching told reporters after the game. “We carry the responsibility to get good results in the second round, so we cannot relax and must focus.”

“Hopefully we can do well, and make good memories for fans in the upcoming games,” he added.

Taiwan advanced on a seven-goal margin to the second round, where they are to face Asia’s top to mid-ranked soccer teams. Taiwan are in Group D with Oman, Kyrgyzstan and Malaysia.

They play Oman away on Nov. 16, before hosting a home match against Malaysia on Nov. 21, which officials said would be Taipei. On March 24 next year, they are to play Kyrgyzstan, a match that is tentatively scheduled for Kaohsiung.

In Tuesday’s other games, Pakistan won its first qualifying game, beating Cambodia 1-0 in Islamabad to advance to the second round, after they finished the first leg in Phnom Penh 0-0.

It was also the first win for Pakistan, ranked 197th, since 2018. It joins Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Jordan in Group G.

Singapore beat Guam 3-1 on aggregate after winning 1-0 on Tuesday, and Afghanistan beat Mongolia 1-0 to advance 2-0 overall.

Yemen was held 1-1 at Sri Lanka, Asia’s lowest-ranked team at No. 202, but had done enough in its home leg to advance 4-1 on aggregate.

Myanmar is to open the next stage against Japan, who beat Tunisia 2-0 in a friendly at Kobe, a sixth successive victory.

Additional reporting by AP

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES