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.
South Korean giants T1, led by “Faker,” won their fifth League of Legends (LoL) world championship crown in London on Saturday, beating China’s Bilibili Gaming (BLG) in a thrilling final. The teams were locked at 2-2 at a packed O2 arena, but T1 clinched game five to make it back-to-back titles after nearly four hours of tense action. China’s BLG started strongly, taking the first game before T1 struck back to level. The Chinese team pulled ahead again at 2-1 only for their opponents to hit back again and go on to take the decider. Faker, who won the Most
The Major League Baseball World Series trophy is headed to Los Angeles, but the party is extending all the way to Japan. People milled around local train stations yesterday morning in Tokyo as newspaper extras were ready to roll off the presses, proclaiming Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto as world champions along with their Dodgers teammates after a stirring Game 5 victory over the New York Yankees. The 30-year-old is a national hero in Japan whose face adorns billboards and TV adverts all over the country. Ohtani this year became the first player in history to hit 50 home runs and
Amber Glenn overcame a fall and her own doubts to win a maiden Grand Prix figure skating title on Saturday at the Grand Prix de France. The American skater had the lead from Friday’s short program. That and the support of the crowd got her through a tough free skate in which she fell on a triple flip and put a hand onto the ice to steady herself on two other jumps. “I didn’t feel that great out there today, but I really tried, and the audience really got me through that last half when I was doubting myself,” Glenn
WORLD SERIES: ‘The individuals that were involved in that last night was a very small segment of the east Los Angeles community,’ the Los Angeles county sheriff said Rowdy crowds took to the streets of Los Angeles after the LA Dodgers won the Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series, setting a city bus on fire, breaking into stores and lighting fireworks. A dozen arrests were reported by police on Thursday, but officials said that most fans celebrated peacefully. Video showed revelers throwing objects at police in downtown LA as sirens blared and officers told them to leave the area on Wednesday night after the Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees in Game 5 of the MLB World Series at Giants Stadium in New York. Another video showed someone standing atop
RSS