Rapid Reaction: Palestine 1:2 Saudi Arabia, AET (2025 FIFA Arab Cup)
Palestine take Saudi Arabia to the brink but fall in extra time at the quarterfinals stage of the 2025 FIFA Arab Cup
Palestine Starting XI: Rami Hamadi; Musab Al-Battat (C), Michel Termanini, Mohammed Saleh, Wajdi Nabhan (Ahmed Taha 90’); Ameed Sawafta, Amid Mahajna (Khalid Abu El Heija 101’), Hamed Hemdan (Odai Kharoub 82’); Tamer Seyam (Ahmad Al-Qaq 60’), Zaid Qunbar (Khaled Al-Nabris 113’), Oday Dabbagh
Goals: Oday Dabbagh 64’
Yellow Cards: Hamed Hemdan 28’, Ameed Sawafta 90+5’, Amid Mahajna 100’
HIGHLIGHTS:
Recap: Over the past two years, Qatar has been where Palestine has made footballing history. At the 2023 Asian Cup, Al-Fida’i registered their first victory of the competition, their higest point total, their highest goal total, and their first ever appearance at the knockout stage.
Five months later, they were back for more. Dispatching Lebanon in a game that ended scoreless but meant that Palestine would make their debut appearance in the decisive Third Round of World Cup qualification.
When Palestine returned to Qatar in the last week of November few could have predicted what Ehab Abu Jazar and his charges had planned. Many thought the team would be undone at the hands of an ascendant Libya side coached by Aliou Cisse.
Palestine beat Libya on penalties.
When the final squad for the tournament was announced, it was even more threadbare than even first anticipated. There was no Adam Kaied or Mohamed Hebous. Ataa Jaber and Wessam Abou Ali were also sidelined with injury. Agustín Manzur and Assad Al-Hamlawi were not released by their clubs.
What transpired defied the expectations of the most optimistic of fans. Victory over the hosts Qatar on their own patch- a comeback from 2-0 down to draw 2021 finalists Tunisia. Top of Group A after a scoreless draw with Syria.
This was not supposed to happen. On Thursday night, fans of Palestine outnumbered by their Saudi counterparts by a factor of 10:1 were hoped for another incredible twist in the tale.
In the first half, almost everything went to plan for Palestine. Save for a soft yellow card shown to Hamed Hemdan which meant that he would miss the semifinal in the event of Palestine’s passage.
Saudi Arabia had the lion’s share of possession but had very few ideas when on the ball. Salem Al-Dawsari had the best chance of the first half forcing a save from Rami Hamadi who parried his shot at his left post and was grateful to see Hamed Hemdan rush to his right post to clear the danger.
The rhythm of the game was broken by Salem Al-Dawsari who won a penalty kick ten minutes into the second half. It was Mohammed Saleh who clattered into the reigning Asian Player of the Year.
The scene was all to familiar to Palestine fans who were at Al-Bayt Stadium in late January 2024. Saleh was the culprit on that night giving away a needless penalty to Almoez Ali.
Tonight’s foul was less of an egregious error but a reminder of Saleh’s shortcomings. Salem Al-Dawsari did not have an angle to pass to Firas Al-Buraikan and his angle to shoot would have been covered by the goalkeeper. Saleh’s rash challenge was a gift but it came after a spectacular move to beat Michel Termanini.
Owing to the Hilal man’s penalty kick woes it was Firas Al-Buraikan who was given responsibility to shoot. He converted to Rami Hamadi’s right after the Palestinian keeper jumped to his left.
To Palestine’s credit they were in no mood to throw in the towel. The response was swift and immediate. Six minutes after the opener. Palestine had their equalizer Ameed Sawafta picked up the ball on the right flank and delivered a perfect cross that Oday Dabbagh stopped with a single touch and slotted home with a second touch.
It was the 27 year old’s first goal since March 2024 and he could not have picked a better time to score it.
The final half hour of play descended into a cascading pattern of controversial refereeing decisions. Ehab Abu Jazar earned himself a booking after rightly protesting that Ahmad Al-Qaq had stopped a ball before it went out of bounds.
Oday Dabbagh nearly bamboozled Saudi goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi in the 88th minute with a shot at his near post that just sailed out of bounds. It was a clear signal- the game was in the balance and Palestine were here to win.
Firas Al-Buraikan jumped and kicked Mohammed Saleh in the back of the head in the dying embers of the match. That challenge was deemed worthy of only a yellow card. The VAR did not intervene to tell Omar Amin to have a second look for what could have been a straight red card.
Omar Amin was at the center of controversy again at the stroke of full time when he awarded a penalty against Mohammed Saleh for hand ball. The defender had gone to ground and the ball seemed to hit him the stomach. Amin was mobbed by players in white. Ameed Sawafta received a yellow card for his troubles before VAR intervened to send the Egyptian to the monitor to overturn his decision.
The arrival of extra time meant the specter of a penalty kick shoot out started to appear. It looked like Saudi Arabia were out of ideas and completely flabbergasted by a Palestinian team that refused to quit.
For their part, Al-Fida’i were on their last legs as evidenced by Amid Mahajna’s exit and the introduction of Khalid Abu El Heija. The youngest member of the squad was asked to deputize out of position and see out the game.
Palestine nearly did see out the game. Saudi Arabia’s winning sequence came after the Green Falcons refused to put the ball out of play with an injured Ameed Sawafta on the ground. A Salem Al-Dawsari cross found Mohammed Kanno who headed home the winner for a relieved Saudi side.
What I Liked: Palestine left everything on the field today. That was 100 percent of what all the players in the squad had to give. They gave it throughout these five matches in difficult circumstances. No Asian team was more disadvantaged from this tournament- and the play-in round- being outside the FIFA window.
At the end of 90 minutes a third World Cup boun
d side had no answers as to how to beat Al-Fida’i.
What I didn’t Like: The argument can be made that we lost this match because of our naivety. A seasoned international should not gift penalty kicks to the opponent. While putting the ball out of play is good sportsmanship and Palestine did indeed do that minutes before the Saudi goal there needs to be more awareness.
The Saudi were desperate and there was no way they were going to remember sporting values in our final third. Someone should have quickly fouled or the team just needed to be hyper aware and not concede during the run of play.
Refereeing: In the dying embers of the Morocco vs. Syria match a Moroccan player was sent off for far less than what Al-Buraikan did to Saleh. That call was made with the use of the VAR which summoned the Chilean referee to the monitor. Why this did not go to the monitor as well is beyond me.
In general, I felt the best referees of Palestine’s matches at the FIFA Arab Cup were USA’s Ismail Elfath, Sweden’s Glenn Nyberg, and Guatemala’s Mario Escobar. Ahmed El-Kaf was better than Egypt’s Omar Amin who should be sent home immediately.
Big Picture: This can be something to build on. Palestine need to look no further than their neighbors who battled and took Egypt to extra time of the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup. That was the start of the rebirth of Al-Nashama who then parlayed that into a trip to the 2023 AFC Asian Cup final and kicked on from there to qualify for the FIFA World Cup.
Palestine has no active domestic league and the future will be difficult but it is not impossible to envision a similar path for Al-Fida’i.
What’s Next: Palestine will most likely take to the pitch again in March 2026 during the next international break. No opponent has been announced as of yet.