With Asian Cup draw in the books, focus turns to 2026 World Cup

Palestine will play six matches in a home and away format between November 2023 and June 2024 against three opponents for the right to advance to an expanded Third Round featuring 18 teams.

It is a scheduling quirk unique to Asia. No matter the format, World Cup qualification starts early and ends early. Over the last two decades that means the first qualifying matches kick off less than a year removed from the FIFA World Cup final.

In spite of the expanded format (the next edition of the FIFA World Cup will feature 48 instead of 32 teams) …