November 11th, 2023: This Week in Palestinian Football

Palestine's journey to United 2026 starts this week against Lebanon in Sharjah, UAE. Here's the latest on how preparations are going

One week is all that separates Palestine from the start of their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign. It has been a long and winding road for Al-Fida’i with far more bumps along the way than anyone would have expected a little over a month ago. 

The million dollar question is how the team will respond to adversity. The element that might help the team is the fact that they have had ample time to build fitness in the absence of competitive matches. The team has been in Jordan since October 22nd meaning many of the players will have camped for 23 days before facing Lebanon. 

A cumulative list of players participating in the camp has not been released but by virtue of pictures posted on the PFA website and some social media sleuthing we can confirm the presence of the following 19 players. The other two remain something of a mystery. Although we are pretty sure that Mohammed Saleh, who is without a club, is also with the group. 

GK: Rami Hamadi, Naim Abu Aker, Baraa Kharoub, Aboodi Yasin. 

DF: Musab Al-Battat, Musa Farawi, Amid Mahajna, El-Mehdi Issa, Mohammed Khalil

MF: Mohammed Yameen, Sameh Maraaba, Odai Kharoub, Anas Bani Odeh, Jonathan Cantillana, Mahmoud Abu Warda, 

FW: Alaa Aldeen Hassan, Islam Batran, Zaid Qunbar, Shehab Qunbar

With players having one match with their clubs before being released the hope is that any and all injuries will be avoided. Michel Termanini was the first of the legionaries to join and he will in no doubt be joined by the likes of Yaser Hamed Mayor, Tamer Seyam, Mohammed Rashid, Ataa Jaber, Saleh Chihadeh and Oday Dabbagh who are locks not only to get called but also to start. 

There remains a handful of questions as to what the rest of the squad will look like. Will there be a debut for Muhamed Alghoul? A triumphant return for Mahmoud Eid who leads the Thai League in goal involvements? Is Camilo Saldaña the default starter at left back? 

There will be an alchemy of sorts in the coming days mixing players plying their trade abroad with those that have been in camp. That said, I do not expect to see many surprises and the team that took to the field in a 4-0 battering of Philippines in June 2022 to seal 2023 Asian Cup qualification will likely be very similar to the one that faces Lebanon in Sharjah. 

The notable exceptions are Ataa Jaber who will likely replace Mohammed Yamin, Samer Jondi being replaced, and possibly Michel Termanini replacing Mohammed Saleh on the account of having better match fitness. 

Palestine will also have a stronger bench than they did during Asian Cup qualification which could prove to be a crucial difference in a derby against Palestine’s neighbors to the north. 

The Mental Aspect