May 6th, 2024: This Week in Palestinian Football

PFA Announces the nationality switches of Omar Faraj and Moustafa Zeidan further boosting Palestine's attacking core.

We stand exactly one month away from the fifth match day in 2026World Cup qualification. As these things stand, Palestine could not have envisioned a better scenario and will qualify for the Third Round with just a point against Lebanon or Australia.

Of course, Palestine cannot celebrate just yet. Lebanon might have no margin for error but they have a path and it will be up to Al-Fida’i to maintain or extend their five point advantage over their rivals.

There are several factors that have Palestine trending upwards ahead of the crunch qualifier.

Palestinians Abroad

Last week both Oday Dabbagh and Wessam Abou Ali scored. This week they turned to providing goals for their teammates as both Al-Ahly and Charleroi emerged victorious.

Over in Thailand, Mahmoud Eid continued his ridiculous output by scoring and assisting in the same game. The fromer Kalmar attacker has eight goals and eight assists in 19 league starts and ranks fifth for goal involvements in the Thai topflight.

There was also another assist for Mahmoud Abu Warda who has proven to be the best Palestinian export in Libya amongst the 30-odd players there.

Palestine’s former starting duo in defence are also experiencing a late season revival. Mohammed Saleh could do little in two games (one start) to help Muaither avert relegation from the Qatar Stars League but he figures to be a starter in this week’s Emir Cup Round of 16 match vs. Al-Wakrah.

There was also a first league start for Yaser Hamed Mayor who acquitted himself well in a narrow 1-0 loss to Smouha. The Zamalek defender was one of the standouts in the match recording a 7.1 SofaScore rating.

What does Palestine’s Starting XI and depth chart look like with Abou Ali, Faraj, and Zeidan?