October 29th, 2023: This Week in Palestinian Football
As the national team starts its training camp we look at what Palestine needs to do to achieve success in World Cup Qualifying.
The Palestinian national team has averted disaster. Come what may, there will be a team on the pitch in Sharjah on November 16th, 2023. Lebanon will be the hosts. Palestine will be the guests and the teams will take a crucial first in their respective 2026 World Cup qualification campaigns.
Five days later, Palestine will play host to Australia. Their home-away-from-home will be Kuwait. More details on that below:
Amidst War, Palestine's WCQ preparations start to take shape
Football in Palestine has been on pause since October 7th, 2023. Leagues in Gaza and the West Bank have not played a match since then and with the land borders closed and the West Bank descending into chaos, the national team was forced to withdraw from the Merdeka Cup.
Picking Kuwait is something of a weird choice given that Jordan was ready and willing to host. Palestine has had success playing in the Hashemite Kingdom in the past earning a 0-0 draw against Saudi Arabia and 6-0 win over Malaysia in front of a raucous crowd back in 2015 during 2018 World Cup Qualifying.
Fans of Al-Wehdat could always be counted on to come and support the team. That said, the way they support the team may not fly with Jibril Rajoub who was not to please to hear that the Palestinian Authority and Mahmoud Abbas get targeted by the fans chanting in recent weeks.
Football Palestine in the News
For those that missed it you can check out articles that I have published for Arab News and Al-Jazeera English this week
Palestinians Abroad Roundup
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