War forces Palestine to begin World Cup quest away from home

The Palestinian national football team is set to commence their journey in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia. Their first match will be against Lebanon, held in Sharjah due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas affecting the region.

Initially, the match was planned to be in Beirut, with Palestine then hosting Australia. However, the conflict following the Hamas attack on October 7 necessitated relocating these fixtures.

The match between Lebanon and Palestine will take place at the Khalid bin Mohammed Stadium in the UAE. Subsequently, the Palestinian team, which typically plays home games at Faisal Al-Husseini Stadium in Al-Ram on the West Bank, will face Australia in Kuwait on November 21.

Before this, Australia’s national team, the Socceroos, led by Graham Arnold, will play against Bangladesh in Melbourne.

These upcoming games mark the commencement of the second phase of Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, which will be a 48-team event. Asia has been allocated eight direct spots, with a potential ninth via an intercontinental playoff.

The competition format involves the top two teams from each of the nine groups progressing to the third phase, set to start next September.

In other matches, Japan will play Myanmar in Osaka in Group B, which also includes Syria and North Korea. South Korea will face Singapore in Group C, where Thailand will compete against China.

Iran will begin their campaign for a seventh World Cup appearance against Hong Kong in Group E, a group that also comprises Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Saudi Arabia’s opening match in Group G is against Pakistan, who have reached the second phase of the Asian qualifiers for the first time. In the same group, Tajikistan will face Jordan.