Preview: Syria vs. Palestine (2025 FIFA Arab Cup)
A Levantine derby will determine who tops Group A with both Syria and Palestine in pole position to advance to the quarterfinals
What: 2025 FIFA Arab Cup Group match
When: December 7th, 2025
Kickoff: 19:00 Jerusalem Time
Where: Education City Stadium, Al-Rayyan, Doha, Qatar
TV/Streams: Subscribers will receive an email with a link to a live stream on the day of the game. Subscribe below:
Previous Encounters:
12.08.2019 | Palestine 4:3 Syria | 2019 WAFF Championship
06.01.2019 | Palestine 0:0 Syria | 2019 AFC Asian Cup
20.11.2012 | Palestine 2:1 Syria | Friendly
17.11.2012 | Palestine 1:1 Syria | Friendly
07.02.2006| Palestine 0:3 Syria| Friendly
26.03.2004 | Palestine 1:1 Syria | Friendly
30.08.2002 | Syria 2:1 Palestine | WAFF Championship
24.05.2000 | Palestine 0:1 Syria | WAFF Championship
27.08.1999| Palestine 1:1 Syria | Pan Arab Games
23.07.1998 | Palestine 1:2 Syria | Arab Cup Qualifier
10.09.1992| Palestine 0:0 Syria | Arab Cup
A Derby… of sorts.
The fact of the matter is that amongst the nations that make up As-Sham in the Arab World (Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria) there are two real derbies. Syria vs. Lebanon and Jordan vs. Palestine.
When Al-Fida’i lock horns with any of the other two it just is not the same and I would venture fans of the other three nations would say the same. Palestine and Syria have met eleven times since 1992 so there is no shortage of history- it just is largely forgettable.
Palestine got the better of Syria the last time the two teams met at the 2019 WAFF Championship. Oday Dabbagh scored a brace as Palestine overcame atrocious goalkeeping from Toufic Ali to cap a 4-3 comeback. Seven months before that- the teams battled to a 0-0 draw in Sharjah at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.
Very few names are still around from that battle but Mohammed Saleh- who was sent off- was one of four current players who participated alongside Rami Hamadi, Musab Al-Battat, and Tamer Seyam. Omar Khribin and Mahmoud Al-Mawas are the only holdovers for Syria.
The concerted efforts both Syria and Palestine took to reduce the average age of their squad will further reduce the weight of this fixture.
What is important for Palestine and Syria is to get out of the group and prepare for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup and the qualification cycle that will begin in mid-2027. Both sides can look to neighbors Jordan’s incremental improvement from 2021 to 2025 and realize that trust in youth at the last Arab Cup resulted in success down the road.
Qualification Scenarios
Palestine and Syria will advance at the expense of Qatar and Tunisia with a draw. When the groups were put together it was thought that the latter two would be in the position of the former two.
Now that roles are reversed, there will no shortage of whining if Palestine and Syria devolves into a Sunday kick-a-bout in the second half. Since the Disgrace of Gijón in 1982 FIFA has made sure that to hold the final games at the group stage simultaneously. That has solved the problem of collusion for the most part but there are several situations in which teams have used the tiebreaker rules and run of play to their advantage.
At Euro 2004, Sweden and Denmark played a famous 2-2 draw which was the exact scoreline needed to send them through at the expense of Italy.
In the 2018 World Cup, Senegal were eliminated on a fair play points tiebreaker. With both teams losing in the final 15 minutes, Japan opted to put their fate in the hands of the Colombians, accept the 1-0 loss, and pass the ball in their own half.
Simply put, there is nothing stopping Palestine and Syria from doing the same. The question is- will they?
A loss for either side means they could head home early should Qatar vs. Tunisia produce a winner.
Tiebreakers at the FIFA Arab Cup tournament are as follows: Goal Differential, Goals Scored, head to head, fair play points.
In terms of fair play points: Syria has one yellow card, Palestine and Qatar have two each, Tunisia have three to their name.
Rotations?
With one foot in the knockout rounds might Ehab Abu Jazar look to rotate his squad? Hamed Hemdan has been the engine of this team in midfield but a yellow card against Syria will cost him the quarterfinal.
The staff has also been cautious in utilizing Oday Dabbagh given his recent injury and demanding travel schedule. It will interesting to see if he is drafted into the starting lineup for the first time.
Abu Jazar has used all 22 players (Badr Moussa has yet to travel to Qatar) at his disposal save for the back up goalkeepers, Khalid Abu El Heija, and Yaser Hamed. Should the match allow it- it would be nice to give minutes to those who have yet to play.
Syria: More than Khribin?
Two moments of brilliance from Omar Khribin have put the Eagles of Qasyun in a position thought unthinkable. They battled against Tunisia and Qatar in two different ways.
Against Tunisia there was a lot of resolute defending and not much else. Other than the free kick early in the second half- Syria had produced nothing going forward. Luckily for the team in green, the goal came at the right time and the Syrians seemed to relish the challenge of defending their lead.
The Qatar game told a different story. Syria could not do what Palestine did three days earlier. Akram Afif ran riot only for his teammates to spurn several good chances.
For their part, Syria also had better looks at goal throughout the game. The breakthrough came late for Qatar and Syria just kept at it until Khribin lashed home the equalizer at the stroke of full time.
It remains to be seen if Syria can offer something more than the magic of Khribin in attack. If Jose Lana’s side goes into halftime with a 0:0 scoreline for the fourth time in two weeks we might need to wait until the quarterfinals to find out.