Palestine reaches final qualifying round for the 2026 FIFA World Cup
Breaking new ground for the Palestinian team, Palestine has qualified for the third round of FIFA World Cup qualifiers for the very first time. This achievement was marked after a barren away match against Lebanon in Doha.
The Palestinian national football team currently playing in Qatar ranks second in their group, they have a five-point advantage over the final team standing Lebanon with only one game left to play. Each of the nine groups has the top two teams which will progress to the last round of FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifyings.
A new Palestinian squad is working under the management of Makram Daboub and Palestine is to play the match against Australia on June 11.
Whilst Palestine continues to improve on the field, off-the-field issues are still a menace. Football’s world governing body, FIFA, has downplayed Palestinian entreaties to act against Israel in this regard because of conduct in Palestine. This inaction stands in contrast to the FIFA expulsion of Russia just days after the latter invades Ukraine.
Later in May, FIFA resolved to seek a legal opinion before it re-assembles in July to consider a Palestinian request to recommend suspending Israel from international matches. PFA President Jibril Rajoub moved FIFA’s 211 member associations’ delegates emotionally by calling on them to stand against what he termed as genocide being perpetrated on the Palestinian people by Israel.
Rajoub’s passionate last words were, “I need for you to stand on the right side of history . . . If not now, when?” The federation cannot continue sitting with its arms folded while all these violations or genocide in Palestine are going on.
The objectively observed facts are the achievements of the football players of Palestine, which shone like a ray of hope in the middle of an unwinnable conflict and a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. When this year’s team started the Asian Cup, they recorded their first experience in the knockout stage – a feat of its own.
However, players themselves have suffered a lot thus losing a significant amount of weight. So many people have wet their loved ones in the blockaded enclave during the military assaults by Israel. Irian striker, Mahmoud Wadi, for instance, received information of his cousin’s death in Gaza just before the Asian Cup of Nations in January. Others like Ibrahim Abuimeir, Ahmed Kullab and Khaled Al Nabris could not make it with their comrades in November last year because they were restricted in the besieged Gaza Strip.
However, the Palestinian team does not give up on the difficulties, and it keeps on fighting to achieve success at the international level. Their next fixture against Australia will be a litmus test when they will have to prove their metal to retain their historic journey in the World Cup qualifiers.
Palestine football team is one of the best examples of human passion and free spirit regardless of the crises that surround their lives. Moreover, they demonstrate their talents and, at the same time, raise awareness about the issues that Palestinians encounter. As they progress into the qualifiers they do so with the hearts and expectations of a nation that seeks recognition and most of all, freedom.
