Palestinian footballers: National team without a state

Why do the Palestinians have a national team despite not having a state?

The Mandatory Palestine Football Federation was founded in 1928 in the British Mandate of Palestine. At that time, the association mainly represented Jewish and British footballers who played in the British Mandate after the First World War. After the state of Israel was founded in 1948, it became the Israel Football Association. In 1962, the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) was founded, a separate association for the Arab Palestinians – operating leagues in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. 

The world governing body, FIFA, and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) only recognized the PFA in 1998, after the Palestinian Authority had formally taken over government functions in the Palestinian territories.

The Palestinian national team initially only played abroad. In 2008, the first FIFA-compatible home stadium was inaugurated in Al-Ram near the city of Ramallah in the West Bank, with artificial turf and 6,000 seats. However, due to the often-tense situation in Palestinian territories, some home games have subsequently been played abroad.

How has the current conflict impacted the Palestinian national team?

Just like in Israel, football was suspended in the Palestinian territories after the latest conflict started. This has meant that members of the Palestinian national team haven't been able to play matches, something training alone can't fully compensate for.

Like the Israeli national team, the Palestinian team too have been forced to look for safe alternative venues in which to play their upcoming international matches. The PFA also withdrew the national team from the Merdeka tournament in Malaysia last month. The Palestinians had been hoping to use that tournament, which featured the hosts, Malaysia, India and the eventual winners Tajikistan, as a tune-up for their World Cup qualifying matches in Lebanon and at home to Australia. Due to Israel's military conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip and with Hezbollah in Lebanon, both matches have been moved abroad. The Palestinians have been preparing for the two World Cup qualifiers in Jordan.

Where will the matches against Lebanon and Australia be played?

Last Thursday's goalless draw against Lebanon was moved to the city of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. The "home game" against Australia on Tuesday is to be played in Ardiya, Kuwait. Algeria had initially announced that they would host the Australia match and all other Palestinian national team matches until further notice. However, FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) nixed that idea, saying that the Palestinian team's matches must be played "in its geographical area, namely the Asian continent, in accordance with the regulations in force."

Who plays on the Palestinian team?

Makram Daboub has been the Palestine head coach since 2021. The Tunisian nominated 26 players for the two matches against Lebanon and Australia. Ten of them play for clubs in the Palestinian territories, 10 abroad, including in Indonesia, Thailand, Chile, Belgium, Sweden and Switzerland.  Three players are under contract with Israeli clubs and three are currently out of contract.

How do the Palestinians stack up on the pitch?

In FIFA's men's rankings, the Palestinian national team are 96th out of 207 teams – 25 places behind Israel (71). Their success on the pitch has been modest. In 2014, the Palestinians won the AFC Challenge Cup and thus qualified for the Asian Cup for the first time.

At the 2015 tournament in Australia, the team finished bottom of the group, losing all three of their matches In 2019 in the United Arab Emirates, the team managed two draws, but again failed to reach the quarterfinals after finishing third in their group. Palestine have qualified for the next Asian Cup, which will be played in Qatar from January 12 to February 10, 2024.

The Palestinians have never qualified for a World Cup. This time, their chances are better simply because the number of teams from Asia has been doubled from four to eight for the 2026 tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The Palestinian team's aim is to at least finish second in their group and thus reach the third round of the Asian World Cup qualifiers for the first time. The third opponent in Group I alongside Jordan and Australia is Bangladesh, with the final group matchday being June 11, 2024.

"Taking part in a World Cup would be a dream, every player wants to achieve that," said goalkeeper Rami Hamadi, who with his 40 appearances, is one of the most experienced players in the current squad. "We want to allow our people to dream."

This article was originally published in German.