2025 was a banner year for Palestinian Football. The next 12 months could be even better.
Palestine's fightback in World Cup qualification and the team's run at the Arab Cup means expectations are now sky high.
Where were you in the final days of December 2024?
Did you follow the Palestine national team? And if so- could you have imagined the turnaround?
2024 was not a bad year by any stretch of the imagination but it seemed that Al-Fida’i had peaked. They were simply a middle ranking team on the Asian continent capable of sweeping aside the likes of Bangladesh and Hong Kong but not capable of replicating those performances against the top tier.
Palestine had made the knockouts of an Asian Cup for the first time in January 2024. A journey we covered here:
Behind the Scenes with Palestine at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup
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The team then followed that up with wins over Bangladesh in Kuwait and Dhaka to set up a showdown with Lebanon for a spot in Round 3 of 2026 World Cup qualifying. Palestine needed a point, and they got just that after wasting chance after chance in a 0-0 draw.
When Round Three started, the team hit a brick wall. In the first six matches Palestine failed to win a match, negating two heroic performances against World Cup perennials South Korea in Seoul and Amman.
The Palestine Football Association then decided to make a coaching change with four games left in Round 3 of World Cup qualification:
A New Era: Makram Daboub out; Ehab Abu Jazar takes over national team
A much rumored move was made official on Tuesday morning during Jibril Rajoub’s impromptu press conference.
It was a leap into the great unknown. Daboub had been with the team since April 2021 and was an assistant for over a decade. The first game did not go to plan as Palestine found a new way to lose to bitter rivals Jordan.
That set up the first of three finals. Palestine had never beaten Iraq until they came from behind- for only the eighth time in 215 matches- to record a 2-1 win.
That instilled belief in the side who reconvened in June and beat Kuwait 2-0 to set up a win and in scenario vs. Oman in Amman. After a scoreless first half, Adam Kaied once again came off the bench to provide a spark and assisted Odai Kharoub’s first international goal to give Palestine the lead.
A phantom penalty call at the death that was not properly reviewed by VAR condemned Palestine to a 1-1 draw and elimination with Oman taking their place in Round 4.
After the summer, Palestine meandered through the September and October international breaks. Results against Malaysia (0-1) and Algeria A’ (0-3), (1-0) were less than convincing.
In November, Palestine’s tour of the Iberian Peninsula made news for the fanfare more than the football. The San Mamés in Bilbao produced an atmosphere that the team has never experienced before:
Media Roundup: All the incredible things that happened in San Mamés
Euskadi and Palestine met in Bilbao at the historic San Mamés Stadium to contest a friendly on Saturday night. The actual football was overshadowed in the best way possible by an incredible atmosphere and several symbols of solidarity. Fewer than 1,500 seats were left empty in the 53,000 capacity stadium. Factoring an average ticket price of €20, the cr…
No one really expected what was to come next- an epic run at the FIFA Arab Cup. I myself thought it would be an achievement to qualify give the absences and the litany of players who had club commitments 48 hours before facing Libya in the play-in game.
Even after Libya was dispatched, collecting three points at the group stage would have been an improvement over the 2021 campaign and given the likes of Ataa Jaber, Wessam Abou Ali, Adam Kaied, Agustín Manzur, Mohammed Hebous, and Assad Al-Hamlawi were amongst those not available for selection.
Palestine should have been happy just to participate in the opening game and see their countrywoman, Rola Azar, deliver a terrific performance in the opening ceremony:
What transpired was unbelievable. The hosts, Qatar, were dispatched 1-0 in the opening game. The finalists of the 2021 edition, Tunisia, were left shell shocked after Palestine mounted a second half come back to draw the match 2-2. Palestine won Group A. Then took Saudi Arabia to the brink in a game that was settled with a controversial winner in the 116th minute.
Palestine might not have lifted silverware last month but there has been a seismic cultural breakthrough. The national team has captured the imagination and even those who were not into football fell in love with a team that left it all on the pitch.
So what comes next?
Focus now shifts to January 2027 and the AFC Asian Cup. Palestine have a one-in-six chance of playing the opening match against Saudi Arabia. The remaining four participants will be known on March 31st and ten days later a draw will be held which will reveal Palestine’s opponents at Asia’s continental showpiece.
The newly announced Asian Nations League is also set to kick off in 2026. This will give Palestine a slate of competitive fixture to use as preparation for the Asian Cup and a new qualifying cycle for the 2030 FIFA World Cup and 2031 AFC Asian Cup (expected to start in November 2027).
The challenge for Palestine? Forgetting about all they achieved last month and focusing on what comes next. Success brings expectations and simply advancing to the knockout stages of the Asian Cup or the Third Round of World Cup qualification will no longer be enough.