Palestine’s Historic World Cup Run Ends Midway Amid Unfolding Genocide (image-instagram/palestine.fa1)
The Palestine national team, amid the ongoing turmoil in its homeland, made history last year by reaching the third round of the World Cup qualifiers. However, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) qualifying campaign for the 2026 FIFA World Cup ended with a late Oman penalty in a 1-1 draw in their final group game.
The Palestinian team, however, ended the campaign midway by scripting history and lifting its people up amid a genocide. This had been the furthest the Palestine national team had ever reached in international football.
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The score line was more than enough for the team to propel Palestine past Oman into the fourth and final qualifying spot in Group B of the third round of the AFC qualifiers—a stage that they had also reached for the first time. The dream slipped away when VAR spotted a shirt pull on a runner chasing a deep free kick. Moments later, Essam Al Subhi’s penalty in the 97th minute sealed their fate.
With the final whistle, the football ground became a scene of heartbreak, as tears streamed down the faces of the Palestinian players, many collapsing to the ground in disbelief.
“Everyone played like a fighter and was up to the responsibility, but one mistake cost us the whole game. But we say thank God for everything,” Odak Kharoub, a Palestinian player, said.
Unlike other national teams, their journey was anything but smooth, as a genocide continued to unfold in their homeland. As per an Al Jazeera report, 582 Palestinian athletes have been killed so far, including over 360 football players, coaches, and administrators. Moreover, Israel had also bombed and occupied the football stadiums in Gaza, and some of the displaced Palestinians make use of the destroyed grounds for shelter.
“This is where my coach used to brief me before games, now I wait here for water, not for kickoff… This was not collateral damage. It was systematic. It’s likely they want to erase everything about us—even our games,” a displaced Palestinian said.
According to Palestine’s Olympic Committee, it would at least take 5 to 10 years to rebuild Gaza’s sports infrastructure. So far, at least 270 such facilities have been either damaged or completely destroyed.
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However, despite the destruction, many coaches and athletes believe that sports will return to Gaza.
Moreover, while FIFA swiftly took action against Russia, banning it from all international football competitions following the invasion of Ukraine, it has remained complicitly silent on Israel, despite the killing of over 62,000 Palestinians since October 7. It was deeply concerning that the footballing body took just four days to ban Russia, yet despite months of global outcry and “Red Card” campaigns from fans, FIFA has remained unwilling to take action.
