On Thursday, the Palestinian national team met Lebanon for the first game of the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign, a game that led to a lot of noise in Israel due to the involvement of Ataa Jaber, who grew up in Maccabi Haifa and paid tribute to the Palestinians when he stepped onto the field with a keffiyeh around his neck and stood for a minute of silence in memory of the deaths of Palestinians in the war, including the Hamas terrorists who carried out the massacre in the communities near the Gaza Strip on October <>.
The German website DW posted an in-depth article about the Palestinian team ahead of their match on Tuesday in Kuwait against Australia, referring, among other things, to its history, of the Palestinian Football Association, gave information about its home stadium, its players and their chances of qualifying for the World Cup, which will take place in two and a half years in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
On the history of the Palestinian team, it said: "The Palestinian Football Association was founded in 1928 under the British Mandate. At the time, the association mainly represented Jewish and British footballers who played in the British Mandate after World War I. After the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, it became the Israel Football Association. In 1962, the Palestinian Football Association (PFA), a separate association for Palestinian Arabs, was established, which operates leagues in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
"The world governing body, FIFA, and the Asian Football Association (AFC) only recognized the PFA in 1998, after the Palestinian Authority formally took over government functions in the Palestinian territories. The team initially played only abroad. In 2008, the first FIFA-recognized home stadium was inaugurated in Al-Ram near the West Bank city of Ramallah, with synthetic grass and 6,000 seats. However, due to the often tense situation in the Palestinian territories, some home matches were held elsewhere. Just like in Israel, football was suspended after the start of the last conflict."
On the relocation of the home game against Australia on Tuesday that was copied to Kuwait, it said: "Thursday's game against Lebanon has been moved to the UAE because Lebanon is also now linked to a war with Israel. " Tuesday's home game against Australia will take place in Heredia, Kuwait. Algeria initially announced that it would allow the Palestinians to host Australia and all other Palestinian team matches until further notice. However, FIFA and the Asian Football Association (AFC) dismissed this idea, saying that the matches of the Palestinian team must take place "in its geographical area, i.e. the Asian continent, in accordance with regulations."
On the squad players, it said: "Makram Dadub has been the head coach of Palestine since 2021. The Tunisian called up 26 players for the two games against Lebanon and Australia. Ten of them play for clubs in the Palestinian territories, 10 abroad, including Indonesia, Thailand, Chile, Belgium, Sweden and Switzerland. Three players are under contract with Israeli clubs and three are currently out of contract. In the FIFA ranking, the Palestinian team is ranked 96th out of 207 teams – 25 places behind Israel (71)."
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On the Palestinians' chances of qualifying for the World Cup for the first time in history, they added: "This time, their chances are better because the number of teams from Asia has doubled from four to eight for the 2026 tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The Palestinian team's goal is to finish at least second in its group and thus reach the third round of World Cup qualification for the first time. "Going to the World Cup would be a dream, every player wants to achieve it," said goalkeeper Rami Hammadi, who with 40 appearances is one of the most experienced players in the Palestinians' current squad. "We want to allow our people to dream."
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