Palestine’s quest to qualify for the FIFA World Cup for the first time underlines the determination to overcome the devastation caused by the Gaza conflict, Palestinian Football Association (PFA) president Jibril Rajoub has said.
The PFA faced obstacles to on-field success few other national teams have come up against even before Israel launched its military offensive on Gaza last year in response to an attack by militant group Hamas on its southern border.
However, Palestinian coach Makram Daboub and his squad, have confounded the odds and retain a chance of representing Palestine at the 2026 finals in the US, Canada and Mexico.
Photo: Reuters
“The restrictions on our movement, the suffocating policies by the Israelis have paralyzed everything,” Rajoub said in an interview last week.
“We suspended everything, including the national league, but in spite of this, we have insisted on continuing our participation in competitions, and that includes the World Cup qualification,” he said.
“We have a real problem, because we could not bring any athletes from Gaza, and tens of them have lost their lives. In Gaza all sport facilities have been destroyed, including most of the clubs, the stadiums and everything are destroyed,” he added. “In the West Bank, they are suffocating us, we cannot do anything. But this is our determination, our commitment.”
Violence has surged in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza, with almost daily sweeps by Israeli forces that have involved thousands of arrests and regular gunbattles between security forces and Palestinian fighters.
While the expanded 48-team format for the 2026 finals offered a golden opportunity for the likes of Palestine to play in the showpiece tournament, plenty of work remains to be done if they are to secure a spot.
Bottom of Group B with two points from four matches, Palestine renew their campaign against Oman in Muscat on Thursday next week before “hosting” South Korea five days later.
It has been five years since Palestine have been able to host an international in Jerusalem and their clash with the group-leading Koreans is to take place in Jordan’s capital Amman.
“It will never be like home,” Rajoub said. “We like Jordan, we like Amman, but we like to play in Jerusalem, we like to play in our home, but this is what we have.”
“We cannot play at home, and this is financially [difficult]. For the first time we will play in Jordan, which is close. I hope some of our fans from Palestine can come,” he said. “We have the right to host. We have to overcome with our determination, our people’s resilience, our commitment. We have no other choice.”
A trip to the World Cup would help ease those financial pressures — each team in Qatar two years ago went home with at least US$9 million — and Palestine have already had some encouraging results in the third phase of Asian qualifying.
A surprise 0-0 draw with the South Koreans in Seoul in their group opener in September was followed by a draw against Kuwait last month.
While securing a direct ticket to the finals is unlikely, Palestine could advance to another round of playoffs with a third or fourth placed finish in the group and are currently only a point behind fourth-placed Oman.
“I think they are doing well,” Rajoub said. “This is the first time in our history we have qualified for the third phase in spite of the situation.”
“We don’t have a national league, so it’s not easy,” he said. “Some athletes have lost their lives or their colleagues or mentors or coaches. This also, psychologically, will have an effect, but despite this we are trying and playing well.”
“It could also be a source of motivation for the athletes,” he added.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
RSS