Palestine’s Valiant World Cup Qualifying Campaign Ends In Heartbreak

posted on: Jun 18, 2025

By: Jake Harris / Arab America contributing writer

When most fans think of the World Cup, they think of the final tournament taking place in the summer every 4 years to decide a world champion. An often overlooked part of the process is the qualifying campaign involving 211 countries across every continent. It is a multi-year campaign involving many untold Cinderella stories. Nations with small populations, and little recognition competing for the dream of playing on the largest stage. Soccer can provide a sense of national pride and unity for countries suffering from war, poverty, or political instability. Palestine’s national team had to go through a qualifying campaign that was overshadowed by unimaginable national hardship. 

Origins of Soccer in Palestine

Soccer in Palestine began long before their admission into FIFA as a member association in 1998. British rule in Palestine following World War I was the catalyst in spreading the sport to the region. Missionary schools started creating small leagues of Arab teams, as well as Jewish teams. The Mandate of Palestine had its own national team up until morphing into the national team for the State of Israel. This was done through a gradual exclusivity imposed upon the Palestinian Football Association through implementation of Zionist symbols in the federations logo, as well as making Hebrew the official language of communication. An attempt to alienate the Arab aspects of the association. 

The 1995 Oslo Accords was not directly involved in the admission of Palestine as a member of FIFA. The coincidental timing indicates the added sovereignty and increased recognition played a role.

The Modern Palestine National Team

Every couple of months, FIFA updates its FIFA World Rankings, ranking all 211 member associations based on current form. Palestine’s all-time highest ranking is 73rd in the World, their lowest all time ranking is 191st. Palestine is currently ranked 101st in the World Rankings as of April 2025. The peak of Palestine’s FIFA ranking came during a 12 game unbeaten run throughout 2016 and 2017. This run included a 10-0 thrashing of Bhutan, as well as a 7-0 win over Timor-Leste.

2026 World Cup Qualification

Palestine automatically started the 2026 qualification process in the second of four total rounds of qualification. The campaign opened up with a 0-0 draw against Lebanon in November 2023. The background behind the game made the result an impressive start. Due to the War in Gaza, the game was moved from Beirut to the United Arab Emirates. There was also a moment of silence for everyone killed as the Palestinian national team wore keffiyehs during the minute’s silence. 

After a narrow defeat to Australia in the second match-day, Palestine won two straight matches against Bangladesh. This put them in an ideal position to make it out of their qualifying group to the next round. The group winners were Australia, but the second placed team would make it to the third round of qualifying. With Bangladesh way behind in points, it would be between Palestine and Lebanon. The difference was Palestine winning both matches against Bangladesh with Lebanon drawing a match with Bangladesh and winning the other. Palestine finished with 8 points while Lebanon finished with 6. 

Advancing to the next round

In the Third Round of Qualification, Palestine would be drawn into a group with Jordan, Iraq, South Korea, Oman, and Kuwait. The top 2 teams in the group would automatically qualify for the World Cup, while teams placed 3rd and 4th would move to the 4th round of qualifying, a last chance opportunity to make the tournament. Palestine were expected to struggle in a group composed of a number of Asia’s top teams. The team would need to punch above their weight to have a chance at advancing. 

Palestine got off to an impressive start drawing with South Korea, a team that is a regular at almost every modern FIFA World Cup. In the second game against South Korea, Palestine scored after 12 minutes taking an unexpected 1-0 lead before conceding to world-class player Heung-Min Son in the 16th minute. Despite letting up 16 shots and only having possession of the ball 26 percent of the match, Palestine were able to hold South Korea to a draw once again. Wins against Iraq, and Kuwait gave Palestine an opportunity to qualify going into the final matchday. 

Final Day Controversy

It was in their hands, a win against Oman would mean Palestine would finish 4th in the group, advancing to the fourth round. Entering minute 49, Palestine received a corner kick and whipped the ball towards the near post and Oday Kharoub headed it in with very little margin for error. Palestine was just over 40 minutes from keeping the dream alive. Entering the 96th minute, Palestine were moments away from the final whistle when an Oman player went down in the penalty area with minimal contact. The refs blew the whistle for a penalty kick. The controversial call was checked by VAR (Video Assistant Referee) but the call on the field was upheld. Oman slotted the penalty in the back of the net ending Palestine’s World Cup journey in the most agonizing fashion. There is considerable debate over the validity of the penalty call. 

As devastating as the result is, Palestine made it further than ever before in the process. With the World Cup now contested with 48 teams rather than 32, it is realistic that in the relatively near future we could see them at a World Cup. One would hope that in the future, Gaza is rebuilt and Palestine have a chance to play matches at their home while having the infrastructure to develop players for the future.

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