Palestine national football team

Palestine
Nickname(s) الفدائيون (The Fedayeen)
الفرسان (The Knights)
أسود كنعان (Lions of Canaan)
Association Palestinian Football Association
Sub-confederation WAFF (West Asia)
Confederation AFC (Asia)
Head coach Abdel Nasser Barakat
Captain Abdelatif Bahdari
Most caps Ramzi Saleh (107)
Top scorer Fahed Attal, Ashraf Nu'man (14)
Home stadium Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium
FIFA code PLE
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 130 Increase 1 (5 May 2016)
Highest 85 (July 2014)
Lowest 191 (April 1999)
Elo ranking
Current 129 (September 2015)
Highest 123 (May 2014)
Lowest 159 (October 2011)
First international
 Egypt 8–1 Palestine State of Palestine
(Alexandria, Egypt; 26 July 1953)
Biggest win
State of Palestine Palestine 11–0 Guam 
(Dhaka, Bangladesh; 1 April 2006)
Biggest defeat

 Egypt 8–1 Palestine State of Palestine
(Alexandria, Egypt; 26 July 1953)

 Iran 7–0 Palestine State of Palestine
(Tehran, Iran; 5 October 2011)
Asian Cup
Appearances 1 (First in 2015)
Best result Group stage, 2015

The Palestine national football team (Arabic: منتخب فلسطين لكرة القدم‎) is the national football team of the State of Palestine and represents the country in international football.[1]

A football federation in Mandatory Palestine was founded in 1928; However, a team for a future Arab state to be called Palestine was first recognized by FIFA in 1998, after the creation of the Palestinian National Authority. Palestine has yet to qualify for the World Cup. They first qualified for the Asian Cup in May 2014, after beating the Philippines 1–0 in the AFC Challenge Cup final. At the finals in Australia, they were eliminated in the group stage.

The team reached an all-time high position of 85th in the FIFA ranking in July 2014 after winning the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup. Following their recognition by FIFA, the team played no official fixtures in the Palestinian territories due to security concerns until a match on 26 October 2008 against Jordan in the newly renovated Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium in Al-Ram north of Jerusalem, which finished in a 1–1 draw.[2] In recognition of their efforts the Palestinian Football Federation was awarded FIFA's inaugural Development Award and AFC National Team of the Year.[3]

History

The game was originally introduced during the time of the British Mandate. Palestine has one of the oldest histories of organized football in the Middle East with evidence of the game being played at an organized level amongst Palestinians youths since at least the early 1920s.[4] Some notable clubs during the early years of Palestinian football were Shabab Al Arab of Haifa, the Orthodox Club of Jerusalem, and Islami Yaffa. During these years, Palestinian stars, such as Jabra Al-Zarqa, George Mardeni, and Majed Assad represented an excellence that was second to none. In fact, Jabra Al-Zarqa received an offer to play for Arsenal FC while playing in the British Army's Haifa League in 1945.[4]

The Eretz Israel Football Association was formed in 1928[5][6] and joined FIFA in 1929. It is associated with the Israeli Football Association.[7][8] At the time the association was made up of Arab clubs, Jewish clubs and clubs representing British policemen and soldiers serving in the region during the British Mandate rule that spanned the period between World War One and the independence of the state of Israel in 1948. The qualification matches for the 1934 and 1938 World Cups were contested by a Mandatory Palestine national football team made up exclusively of Jewish players.[9]

Palestine applied to, and was admitted into FIFA in 1998. They played their first friendly matches against Lebanon, Jordan and Syria in July 1998. The following year, the team, led by Israeli-Arab coach Azmi Nasser took part in the 1999 Pan Arab Games, in which they won the bronze medal after beating Syria, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, while only losing to hosts Jordan.

Palestine's first attempt to qualify for the 2000 AFC Asian Cup and the 2002 FIFA World Cup were unsuccessful, but saw victories against Hong Kong and Malaysia.

In 2002, the PFA hired Nicola Hadwa Shahwan as manager. Shahwan, who was born in Beit Jala, grew up in Chile and had many connections among Santiago's Palestinian community, whence he brought Roberto Bishara, Roberto Kettlun, Edgardo Abdala, Francisco Atura and the Argentine-born Pablo Abdala into the squad. These players made their debuts in the 2002 Arab Nations Cup. The team exited in the group stage but managed draws against group winners Jordan, hosts Kuwait, and Sudan, with their only loss coming against eventual semi-finalists Morocco.

In 2004, two more Arab Latin Americans joined the Palestinian national team Hernán Madrid and the Argentine-born Alejandro Naif.

After an unsuccessful Asian Cup qualifying campaign, the PFA hired Austrian coach Alfred Riedl to lead the team in the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifications. Palestine were drawn in a group alongside Uzbekistan, Iraq and Chinese Taipei. In their first match, Palestine recorded an historic 8–0 win against the Taiwanese; two months later a 1–1 draw against Iraq put Palestine in first place in the group. Preparation for the team's third game, away to Uzbekistan, were hampered after the Israeli authorities refused travel permits for nearly half the squad. Barely able to put together a full team, Palestine sank to a 3–0 defeat, before losing both of their remaining games.

Palestine were drawn in a group in Asian Cup qualifying for the 2007 tournament alongside 2004 finalists China, eventual winners Iraq, and Singapore. Palestine still had a chance of qualifying until the penultimate round, after a 1–0 win against Singapore and a 2–2 draw against Iraq. Palestine was invited to participate in the inaugural Challenge Cup in Bangladesh, where they beat Guam 11–0, Cambodia 4–0 and drew with Bangladesh to top their group and reach the quarterfinal, where they were beaten 1–0 by Kyrgyzstan. In the summer of 2006, Palestine achieved its highest ever FIFA ranking at 115, placing them 16th in the Asian continent. The team remained without a manager for most of 2007 and preparations for World Cup Qualifying were severely lacking. Palestine lost the first leg of a two-legged play-off against Singapore 0–4 and could not play the return leg as a result of Israeli travel restrictions.

In 2008, with the assistance of FIFA's Goal program, Jibril Rajoub, head of the PFA had the Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium built, and on 26 October 2008 Palestine held a match on home soil for the first time since becoming a member of FIFA, a 1–1 draw with Jordan in front of a crowd in excess of 7,000.[2] Palestine received the inaugural FIFA Development Award in recognition of the achievement.[3]

Two and a half years later, in March 2011, Palestine played its first ever competitive home game. The game, at the Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium, was the second leg of a qualifier for the 2012 Olympic Games, against Thailand. Thailand had won the first leg 1–0 in Bangkok; Palestine won the second 1–0 with a goal by Abdelhamid Abuhabib in the 43rd minute. The draw on aggregate led to a penalty shootout, where Palestine lost by 5–6.[10] However, as Thailand was ordered to forfeit the first match because of fielding an ineligible player,[11] Palestine replaced Thailand to play Bahrain next. In the next round against Bahrain, although Palestine won the first leg at Bahrain National Stadium by 1–0,[12] they lost the return leg by 1–2[13] and eliminated by away goals rule.[14]

The team beat Afghanistan 3–1 on aggregate (2–0 away, 1–1 home) in the first round of AFC qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. They faced Thailand in the second round, with an away match on 23 July 2011 in Buriram, and a home match on 28 July at Al-Ram. Palestine lost the away leg 1–0, with back-up goalkeeper Mohammed Shbair saving a penalty in the dying moments of the match to keep the tie alive. Palestine took a 1–0 lead in the 6th minute of the return leg through a Murad Alyan goal but conceded 10 minutes before halftime, meaning they would have to win by two clear goals in order to advance. Palestine took a 2–1 lead late in the second half but had a man sent off and conceded a goal whilst desperately searching for a winner. They were eliminated from AFC qualification on an aggregate score of 2–3, if the Asian Football Confederation elects to keep the same qualifying format for the 2018 FIFA World Cup they will be ranked 21st and receive a 1st round bye.

The PFA elected not to renew Moussa Bezaz's contract after the team failed to advance to the Third Round of 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying. Former Al-Wehdat player and manager Jamal Mahmoud was announced as the national team manager in November 2011 after two disastrous friendlies without a permanent manager saw the team lose 4–1 and 7–0 to Indonesia and Iran, respectively. His first official match was a friendly against Bahrain in Manama which Palestine won 1–0 courtesy of Ali El-Khatib's first international goal. Palestine lost its first game at the 2011 Pan Arab Games to Jordan but recovered well in their following group games. Earning a well-deserved 1–1 draw and a 2–0 win over 2012 African Cup of Nations finalists Libya and Sudan to advance to the semifinals of the competition. The team eventually exited the competition against eventual champions Bahrain under dubious circumstances when the Bahrainis were awarded a phantom goal in the second half to make the score 3–1.

Mahmoud led the team three months later at the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup. In the run up to the competition, Palestine made history by playing and defeating its first UEFA opponent, Azerbaijan, 2–0. Preparation for the competition was less than ideal with Abdelatif Bahdari, Roberto Bishara, Omar Jarun, Majed Abusidu, Ali El-Khatib, and Imad Zatara unavailable due to club commitments and having Raed Fares, Haitham Theeb, Ismail Amour, Mohammed Al-Masri, Rafit Eyad and Murad Alyan out with injury. Palestine were further denied the services of many players based in Lebanon due to visa issues. Despite these hardships Palestine finished group play at the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup without conceding a goal after 2–0 wins over Nepal and Maldives along with a 0–0 draw against Turkmenistan.

Palestine won their first West Asian Football Federation Championship match in 2012, defeating Lebanon 1–0 in Kuwait City. In 2013, They secured a second straight AFC Challenge Cup berth, qualifying for the 2014 edition by topping Group D with 7 points, ahead of Bangladesh, Nepal, and the Northern Mariana Islands. The team ended up winning the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup without conceding a goal and drawing just one out of five games. The win brought the Palestine team their first major trophy and assured them of participation in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, also their first ever. They were placed in Group D alongside Japan, Jordan and Iraq which lost all three group matches. They were defeated 0–4 by Japan, lost 1–5 to Jordan and finished their campaign with a 0–2 loss to Iraq.

Home matches in Palestine (Official)

      Win       Draw       Loss

Date Venue Opponent Result Competition Palestine scorers
26 October 2008 Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium, Jerusalem  Jordan 1–1 Friendly Ahmed Keshkesh
3 July 2011 Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium, Jerusalem  Afghanistan 1–1 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying Houssam Wadi
28 July 2011 Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium, Jerusalem  Thailand 2–2 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying Murad Alyan (2)
8 September 2015 Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium, Jerusalem  United Arab Emirates 0–0 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying
29 March 2016 Dora Stadium, Hebron  Timor-Leste 7–0 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying Yashir Pinto (2), Jonathan Cantillana (2), Jaka Ihbeisheh, Ahmed Awad, Abdelatif Bahdari

Problems relating to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict

The Palestinian Football Federation faces problems in training and playing due to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Because of travel restrictions placed by Israel upon people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the difficulty in obtaining an exit visa from Israel, many players in the team are drawn from the Palestinian diaspora, from as far away as Chile and the United States.[15] Recently, Israel's refusal to issue exit visas has resulted in players, or in some case the entire team, being unable to represent the territories. In November 2006 (the last match of 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification group stage is scheduled), all players based inside the West Bank and Gaza Strip were denied exit visas. The AFC cancelled the match since both teams had been eliminated from the competition by virtue of their previous results against China and Iraq.[16] A film, Goal Dreams, was made about the team attempting to overcome obstacles in the qualification for the 2006 World Cup, who were also featured on the BBC documentary series Frontline Football.

In October 2007, the second leg of a crucial 2010 World Cup qualifier between Palestine and Singapore was not played due to Palestine's inability to obtain exit visas. The AFC and FIFA decided not to reschedule the match despite protests from the PFA, and Singapore was awarded a 3–0 win in a walkover match.[17] In May 2008, the team was not allowed to travel to the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup. After a 2011 World Cup qualifier against Thailand, two starters, Mohammed Samara and Majed Abusidu, were refused entry to the West Bank and therefore could not travel back with the team from Thailand.[18]

Striker Ziyad Al-Kord was banned from traveling and had his house destroyed.[19] Tariq al Quto was killed by the Israel Defense Forces,[20] and during the Operation Cast Lead three Palestinian footballers, Ayman Alkurd, Shadi Sbakhe and Wajeh Moshtahe, were among the Palestinian casualties.[21]

Mahmoud Sarsak was administratively detained by Israel in July 2009 for being a member of Islamic Jihad; following a hunger strike and international pressure on his behalf from FIFA President Sepp Blatter, he was released in July 2012.[22] In 2012, Olympic Team goalkeeper Omar Abu Ruways was arrested by Israel for being a member of a terrorist cell.[23]

Sameh Maraaba was arrested in April after returning with his team from training in Qatar. The Shin Bet accused Maraaba of exploiting his status as a Palestinian football player to act as a courier for Hamas. [24] Shin Bet released a statement in which it was contended that Maraaba admitted that, before he left for Qatar, he met a senior Hamas operative in Kalkilya, asked him to meet an operative from Hamas' military wing in Qatar and received money, a cellphone and written messages which he brought back to Hamas operatives in Kalkilya. [24]

Palestinian facilities, such as Palestine Stadium, have been damaged in military conflicts.[25]

The team's former goalkeeper Abu Rwayyis was arrested in connection with an attack on IDF soldiers in April 2012.[26]

Competition records

FIFA World Cup record

FIFA World Cup record Qualifications record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA GP W D L GS GA
France 1998 Not a FIFA member – – – – – –
South Korea Japan 2002 Did not qualify 621389
Germany 2006 62131011
South Africa 2010 100104
Brazil 2014 412154
Russia 2018 8332226
Total 2587104534

Asian Cup

AFC Asian Cup Finals
Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA
Hong Kong 1956 to United Arab Emirates 1996 Did not enter
Lebanon 2000 Did not qualify
China 2004
IndonesiaMalaysiaThailandVietnam 2007
Qatar 2011
Australia 2015 Group Stage 16th 3003111
TotalBest: Group Stage1/16 3 0 0 3 1 11

Olympic Games

Olympic Games record Qualifications record
Year Result Position Pld W D L GF GA GP W D L GS GA
France 1900 to Australia 2000 Did not enter Did not enter
Greece 2004 Did not qualify 421154
China 2008 201123
United Kingdom 2012 430162
Brazil 2016 420265
Total – 0/23 0 0 0 0 0 0 147251914

AFC Challenge Cup

AFC Challenge Cup Record Qualifications Record
Year Result Position Pld W D L GF GA GP W D L GS GA
Bangladesh 2006Quarterfinals5th4211162Automatic qualification
India 2008WithdrewWithdrew
Sri Lanka 2010Did Not Qualify202011
Nepal 2012Fourth Place4th521276321051
Maldives 2014Champions1st5410603210100
TotalBest: Champions3/5148332988440162

WAFF Championship

WAFF Championship Finals
Year Round Pld W D L GS GA
Jordan 2000Group Stage301235
Syria 2002Group Stage200214
Iran 2004Group Stage201123
Jordan 2007Group Stage200203
Iran 2008Group Stage200204
Jordan 2010Group Stage200216
Kuwait 2012Group Stage310234
Qatar 2014Group Stage201101
TotalBest: Group Stage1813141030

Arab Nations Cup record

Arab Nations Cup
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA
Lebanon 1963Did not enter
Kuwait 1964
Iraq 1966Group Stage5311183
Saudi Arabia 1985Did not enter
Jordan 1988
Syria 1992Group Stage5201112
Qatar 1998Did not enter
Kuwait 2002Group Stage9403179
Saudi Arabia 2012Group Stage9201124
TotalBest: Group Stage4/9111641818

Pan Arab Games

Pan Arab Games
Year Round Pld W D L GS GA
Egypt 1953Group Stage2002313
Lebanon 1957Did not enter
Morocco 1961Did not enter
Egypt 1965Group Stage621379
Syria 1976Group Stage621349
Morocco 1985Did not enter
Syria 1992Group Stage201112
Jordan 1999Third Place622269
Egypt 2007Did not enter
Qatar 2011Fourth Place5113511
TotalBest: Third Place2776142655

Results and fixtures

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Saudi Arabia 8 6 2 0 28 4 +24 20 Third round and Asian Cup — 2–1 3–2 2–0 7–0
2  United Arab Emirates 8 5 2 1 25 4 +21 17 1–1 — 2–0 10–0 8–0
3  Palestine 8 3 3 2 22 6 +16 12 Asian Cup qualifying third round 0–0 0–0 — 6–0 7–0
4  Malaysia 8 1 1 6 3 30 −27 4 Asian Cup qualifying play-off round 0–3[lower-alpha 1] 1–2 0–6 — 1–1
5  Timor-Leste 8 0 2 6 2 36 −34 2 0–10 0–1 1–1 0–1 —
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. ↑ The Malaysia v Saudi Arabia match, on 8 September 2015, was abandoned during the 87th minute after a group of supporters threw objects onto the pitch. At the time of the abandonment the score was 2–1 to Saudi Arabia. On 5 October 2015, FIFA decided that this match was forfeited and the result to be declared as a 0–3 loss for Malaysia.[27][28]

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers vs.UAE & vs. Timor Leste on March 24th & March 29th, 2016.[34] Caps and goals as of 5 April 2016, after the match against Timor Leste.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Tawfiq Ali (1990-11-08) 8 November 1990 26 0 State of Palestine Shabab Dora
16 1GK Ghanem Mahajna (1991-04-20)20 April 1991 (aged 24) 0 0 State of Palestine Shabab Al-Khaleel
22 1GK Azmi Shweki (1986-06-13) 13 June 1986 0 0 State of Palestine Ahli Al-Khaleel
23 2DF Mohammed Abu Khamis (1991-05-25) 25 May 1991 1 0 State of Palestine Wadi Al-Nes
15 2DF Abdelatif Bahdari(c) (1984-02-20) 20 February 1984 40 2 State of Palestine Shabab Al-Khalil
19 2DF Mus'ab Al-Batat (1993-11-21) 21 November 1993 12 1 State of Palestine Shabab Al-Dhahiriya
4 2DF Haytham Dheeb (1986-12-03) 3 December 1986 22 1 State of Palestine Ahli Al-Khaleel
14 2DF Abdullah Jaber (1993-02-17) 17 February 1993 22 1 State of Palestine Ahli Al-Khaleel
21 2DF Alexis Norambuena (1984-03-31) 31 March 1984 10 0 Chile Deportes La Serena
5 2DF Tamer Salah (1986-02-03) 3 February 1986 9 0 State of Palestine Hilal Al-Quds
8 2DF Fadi Salbees (1993-05-01) 1 May 1993 1 0 State of Palestine Hilal Al-Quds
18 3MF Jonathan Cantillana (1992-05-26) 26 May 1992 6 3 State of Palestine Ahli Al-Khaleel
23 3MF Mohammed Darwish (1991-02-06) 6 February 1991 5 0 State of Palestine Shabab Al-Dhahiriya
13 3MF Jaka Ihbeisheh (1986-08-29) 29 August 1986 10 3 Slovenia Rudar Velenje
10 3MF Sameh Maraaba (1993-03-18) 18 March 1993 8 2 State of Palestine Khader
6 3MF Shadi Shaban (1992-03-04) 4 March 1992 2 0 State of Palestine Ahli Al-Khaleel
9 3MF Tamer Seyam (1992-11-28) 28 November 1992 13 3 State of Palestine Shabab Al-Khaleel
17 3MF Pablo Tamburrini (1990-01-30) 30 January 1990 8 1 State of Palestine Al-Bireh
3 3MF Mohammed Yameen (1994-09-19) 19 September 1994 0 0 State of Palestine Thaqafi Tulkarem
20 3MF Khader Yousef (1984-10-06) 6 October 1984 61 2 State of Palestine Wadi Al-Nes
2 4FW Ahmed Awad (1992-06-01) 1 June 1992 1 1 Sweden Dalkurd FF
12 4FW Ahmad Abu Nahyeh (1991-07-07) 7 July 1991 4 4 State of Palestine Shabab Al-Khaleel
11 4FW Matías Jadue (1992-05-16) 16 May 1992 6 1 Malaysia PKNS FC
7 4FW Ashraf Nu'man (1986-07-29) 29 July 1986 53 14 Saudi Arabia Hajer
11 4FW Yashir Pinto (1991-02-06) 6 February 1991 1 2 Chile Curicó Unido

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Palestine squad within the last 12 months.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Khaled Azzam (1992-07-07) 7 July 1992 0 0 State of Palestine Hilal Al-Quds v.  Malaysia; WCQ 16 June 2015
GK Rami HamadiINJ (1991-04-20) 20 April 1991 0 0 State of Palestine Thaqafi Tulkarem v.  United Arab Emirates; WCQ 24 March 2016
GK Ahmed Shebel (1989-08-30) 30 August 1989 0 0 Israel Bnei Sakhnin v.  Timor-Leste; WCQ 8 October 2015
DF Javier Cohene (1987-05-03)3 May 1987 (aged 28) 1 1 Portugal Atletico CP v.  United Arab Emirates; WCQ 8 September 2015
DF Mahmoud Dayfallah (1990-01-01) 1 January 1990 0 0 State of Palestine Ahli Al-Khaleel v.  Malaysia; WCQ 12 November 2015
DF Abdullah Idrees (1995-04-09) 9 April 1995 0 0 State of Palestine Hilal Al-Quds v.  Timor-Leste; WCQ 8 October 2015
DF Thaer Jboor (1992-03-20) 20 March 1992 0 0 State of Palestine Shabab Yatta v.  Malaysia; WCQ 16 June 2015
DF Yazan Owiwe (1994-06-06) 6 June 1994 0 0 State of Palestine Shabab Al-Khaleel v.  United Arab Emirates; WCQ 8 September 2015
MF Abdelhamid Abuhabib (1989-06-08) 8 June 1989 33 7 State of Palestine Balata v.  Malaysia; WCQ 12 November 2015
MF Mahmoud Abu Warda (1995-05-31) 31 May 1995 0 0 State of Palestine Shabab Al-Khaleel v.  Lebanon; 31 August 2015
MF Ayman Kharbat (1993-01-02) 2 January 1993 0 0 State of Palestine Wadi Al-Nes v.  Malaysia; WCQ 16 June 2015
MF Ahmed Maher (1991-07-22) 22 July 1991 16 5 State of Palestine Ahli Al-Khaleel v.  Lebanon; 31 August 2015
MF Hesham Salhe (1987-11-08) 8 November 1987 15 1 State of Palestine Hilal Al-Quds v.  Malaysia; WCQ 12 November 2015
MF Mahmoud Sheikhqasem (1993-04-22) 22 April 1993 9 0 State of Palestine Shabab Al-Am'ari v.  Timor-Leste; WCQ 8 October 2015
MF Imad Zatara (1984-10-01) 1 October 1984 27 3 Bahrain Al Ahli v.  Malaysia; WCQ 12 November 2015
FW Bilal Alsabe (1991-06-04) 4 June 1991 0 0 State of Palestine Shabab Dora v.  Timor-Leste; WCQ 8 October 2015
FW Mohammed Fode (1989-01-03) 3 January 1989 0 0 State of Palestine Shabab Al-Dhahiriya v.  Lebanon; 31 August 2015
FW Mahmoud EidINJ (1993-06-23) 23 June 1993 11 1 Sweden Atvidaberg v.  Malaysia; WCQ 24 March 2016
FW Qasim Mahamied (1992-01-01) 1 January 1992 0 0 State of Palestine Shabab Al-Dhahiriya v.  Malaysia; WCQ 12 November 2015
FW Carlos Salom (1987-04-15) 15 April 1987 0 0 Chile Union Española v.  Timor-Leste; WCQ 29 March 2016

Past squads

Top goalscorers

As of 1 April 2016

# Name Career Goals Caps
1 Fahed Attal 2005– 14 40
Ashraf Nu'man* 2009– 14 53
3 Ziyad Al-Kord 1998–2006 10 30
4 Murad Alyan 2011– 7 9
Ismail Al-Amour 2005– 7 46
Abdelhamid Abuhabib* 2011– 7 33

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 The fixtures between Saudi Arabia and Palestine were switched after Saudi Arabia cited "exceptional conditions" for their inability to travel to the West Bank.[29] The return fixture, originally to be played on 13 October 2015 at the Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium, Al-Ram, was later postponed due to Saudi Arabia's refusal to pass through Israeli-controlled borders,[30] until the process of agreeing on the venue is concluded.[31]
  2. 1 2 The home matches of Palestine against Saudi Arabia and Malaysia will be played on neutral ground as the Palestinian government confirmed that it could no longer guarantee the safety and security for the matches.[32] The neutral venue was announced to be Amman International Stadium in Amman, Jordan.[33]

References

  1. ↑ While serving only the Palestinian territories, FIFA adopted the Palestinian Football Association as the National Football Association of "Palestine" to avoid being required to make political judgements while a lasting solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict is yet to be found. For discussion of the use of this term, see definitions of Palestine. For a similar situation, see Chinese Taipei.
  2. 1 2 Maqbool, Aleem (2008-10-27). "'Palestine' take to field of dreams". BBC News (BBC). Retrieved 2008-10-28.
  3. 1 2 "Palestine scoop Development Prize". FIFA.com. FIFA. 2009-01-12. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
  4. 1 2 "The Rebirth of Palestinian Soccer". Boxscore News. 2011-07-05. Retrieved 2011-07-09.
  5. ↑ The early development of Hebrew football in Eretz Israel, 1910–1928
  6. ↑ HISTORY AND ACHIEVEMENTS http://www.footballtop.com/countries/israel
  7. ↑ Association Information on FIFA
  8. ↑ ASSOCIATION INFO on UEFA
  9. ↑ "British Mandate of Palestine Official Games 1934-1948". 2008-10-24.
  10. ↑ "Palestinian footballers in bittersweet Olympic match", BBC, 9 March 2011
  11. ↑ "Palestine to replace Thailand in Olympic Qualifiers second round". the-afc.com. 2011-05-04. Retrieved 2011-06-22.
  12. ↑ FIFA OLYMPIC FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT 2012 MATCH SUMMARY
  13. ↑ FIFA OLYMPIC FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT 2012 MATCH SUMMARY
  14. ↑ "Palestine 1–2 Bahrain (2–2 agg; Bahrain win on away goals)". Asian Football Confederation. 2011-06-23. Retrieved 2011-07-05.
  15. ↑ Taji Farouky, Saeed (2006-06-07). "Palestine team's World Cup woes". BBC News Online. Retrieved 2006-09-28.
  16. ↑ "Singapore, Palestine match called off". the-afc.com. 2006-11-15.
  17. ↑ "Asia WCQ: Singapore Given Tie After Palestine No-Show". GOAL.com. 2007-10-29.
  18. ↑ Wahl, Grant, "Welcome to the World", Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Online, 8 August 2011, pp. 36-40.
  19. ↑ "Film documents hardships facing Palestinian football team". 2004-11-04. Retrieved 2006-09-28.
  20. ↑ Willacy, Mark (2006-06-30). "Palestinian National Football Team prepares for the next World Cup despite difficulties". ABC News (Australia) Online. Retrieved 2006-09-28.
  21. ↑ "Three Palestinian soccer players killed in Gaza violence | Top Russian news and analysis online | 'RIA Novosti' newswire". En.rian.ru. 2009-01-14. Retrieved 2010-01-05.
  22. ↑ Israel to release Mahmoud Sarsak (18 June 2012). Associated Press.
  23. ↑ "'Red Crescent workers behind shooting attack' } Jerusalem Post } 'Jerusalem Post". jpost.com. 2012-04-02. Retrieved 2012-04-02.
  24. 1 2 "Shin Bet busts Palestinian footballer for meeting with Hamas terrorist in Qatar &#124". 2014-06-11. Retrieved 2014-06-11.
  25. ↑ "'FIFA to fund Gaza soccer field repair' } ynetnews } 'Ynetnews". ynetnews.com. 2006-11-04. Retrieved 2012-09-09.
  26. ↑ "&#124". 2014-06-11. Retrieved 2014-06-11.
  27. ↑ Rashvinjeet S. Bedi; T. Avineshwaran (8 September 2015). "Malaysia-Saudi match abandoned after crowd trouble". The Star. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  28. ↑ "Malaysian FA sanctioned after abandonment of FIFA World Cup qualifier". FIFA.com. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  29. ↑ "Palestine and Saudi Arabia agree to swap venues for World Cup qualifier". The National (UAE). 8 June 2015.
  30. ↑ "World Cup 2018: Palestinians and Saudi Arabia at loggerheads over key game". CNN. 29 September 2015.
  31. ↑ "FIFA statement on the Palestine-Saudi Arabia 2018 FIFA World Cup™ qualifier". FIFA.com. 7 October 2015.
  32. ↑ "Palestine to play Saudi Arabia and Malaysia on neutral ground". FIFA.com. 4 November 2015.
  33. ↑ "Amman the venue for Palestine qualifiers". FIFA.com. 5 November 2015.
  34. ↑ http://www.footballpalestine.com/2016/03/preview-uae-vs-palestine-2018-world-cup.html#more

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, May 07, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.