The Palestinian bid to qualify for the 2026 World Cup may have been snatched away with a contentious late penalty but the fact the team got so close is some comfort to the players and their supporters. The Palestinian team needed to win its last three Group B games in Asian qualifying to advance to another continental playoff round.
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Hay más de 200 muertosTrump vetó plan israelí de matar a líder supremo de Irán, dice funcionario estadounidense a APPalestinian players leave the field after an Asian Group B World Cup qualifying soccer match against Oman at the King Abdullah II Stadium in Amman, Jordan on June 12, 2025. Palestinian fans watch an Asian Group B World Cup qualifying soccer match between Paelstinians and Oman at the King Abdullah II Stadium in Amman, Jordan on June 12, 2025.Palestinian players leave the field after an Asian Group B World Cup qualifying soccer match against Oman at the King Abdullah II Stadium in Amman, Jordan on June 12, 2025. Palestinian players leave the field after an Asian Group B World Cup qualifying soccer match against Oman at the King Abdullah II Stadium in Amman, Jordan on June 12, 2025. Palestinian fans watch an Asian Group B World Cup qualifying soccer match between Paelstinians and Oman at the King Abdullah II Stadium in Amman, Jordan on June 12, 2025.Palestinian fans watch an Asian Group B World Cup qualifying soccer match between Paelstinians and Oman at the King Abdullah II Stadium in Amman, Jordan on June 12, 2025.AMMAN, Jordan — An engrossing qualifying journey of 16 games and the obstacles of a war came crashing down in an instant for Oday Dabbagh and his Palestinian team.Players left the field in tears in the immediate aftermath at the King Abdullah II Stadium in Amman, Jordan, last Thursday after their quest for a first appearance at a“It’s very hard,” Dabbagh, the team’s star striker, told The Associated Press. “It was massive for us to get to the next stage — we prepared well, we had a positive atmosphere, and we had the fans with us. We gave everything, but it was gone in a moment.”, the No. 101-ranked team in the world beat Iraq in Basra in March, Kuwait in Kuwait City on June 5. Five days later, it was leading 1-0 against Oman in Jordan in the 97th minute.for a World Cup. Then Oman was awarded, and scored, a penalty to make it 1-1 in the last real act of the game.US hopes 5-0 win over Trinidad starts upswing after longest losing streak since 2007Not long after the dejected players had picked themselves up, the Palestine Football Association made an official complaint to soccer’s world governing body, FIFA, about the penalty. It didn’t change the fact, however, that the long road trip was over. “We tried to put smiles on the faces of Palestinians amid their great pain,” head coach Ihab Abujazar said. “The heroic players are our pride and glory, a symbol of all that is beautiful in the Palestinian nation.”It may have been different if the Palestinian team, admitted into FIFA in 1998, was able to play home games in front of its fans in Gaza or the West Bank in the third round of qualifying. Themeant that couldn’t happen. And so the many of the team’s home games have been taking place in the nearby Jordanian capital of Amman, home to a large community of Palestinians. “It is easier to play in your home,” Dabbagh, who helped Aberdeen win the Scottish Cup last month, said. “But the circumstances there are so difficult so we choose to play in Amman as it is close to Palestine, the people are the same, and we have a lot of fans there.” There’s been no domestic soccer in the Palestinian territories since the war started in 2023. Hundreds of athletes are among the more than 55,000 Palestinians killed in the conflict and sports facilities have been destroyed. “Everything that goes on makes us all sad,” Dabbagh said. “As players, we try to focus on football during the games, but we use what is happening as motivation to bring happiness to the people of Palestine.” All but two of the roster of 27 national squad players are contracted to foreign clubs either in the region or in Europe, a change from the start of the conflict whenThe top two teams in each of three Asian groups in the third round earned direct spots for next year’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The third- and fourth-place teams in each group advanced to a playoff for two more places. A win would have secured fourth spot in the group for the Palestinians. The last-minute draw meant they finished a point behind Oman in fifth.Now their focus has to shift to the 2027 Asian Cup, which will take place in Saudi Arabia. The Palestinian team has already qualified for the tournament. Dabbagh is ready to show that the team is set to remain a force in Asian soccer and continue to be ambassodors for millions of people. “We will keep using football as a message to show the world that there are other things in Palestine” he said. “We will keep going. The dream is not over, it is just delayed.”Man suspected of shooting 2 Minnesota lawmakers is caught following huge searchSpaniards turn water pistols on visitors in Barcelona and Mallorca to protest mass tourism
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