Palestine at the AFC Asian Cup

Palestine participated in their maiden AFC Asian Cup, the 2015 tournament, held in Australia. It was the first time Palestine qualified for the Asian Cup and in a major tournament, and this performance has been accredited for the rise of Palestine in the international arena, and the team is widely seen as the symbol of unity for Palestinians amidst the conflict between Hamas and Fatah over control of Palestinian Authority.[1] Their second competition appearance came in 2019. Palestine qualified for the Asian Cup for the third consecutive time in 2023. It was the first ever time that Palestine qualified for the knockout round of the Asian Cup bringing hope to Palestinians amidst the Israel-Hamas War.[2]

## Overall record

[edit]

AFC Asian Cup record  |  | Qualification record

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Year  | Result  | Position  | Pld | W | D*  | L | GF | GA | Pld | W | D*  | L | GF | GA
1956 to  1996 | Did not enter | Did not enter
2000 | Did not qualify | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8
2004 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 11
2007 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 9
2011 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1
2015 | Group stage | 16th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 11  | 13 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 7
2019 | Group stage | 17th | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3  | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 49 | 8
2023 | Round of 16 | 14th | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 7  | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 20 | 10
2027 | Qualified | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6
Total | Round of 16 | 4/19 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 21  | 46 | 19 | 8 | 19 | 84 | 52

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

## By match

[edit]

AFC Asian Cup History

Year | Round | Score | Result
2015
Round 1 |  Palestine 0 – 4 Japan | Loss
Round 1 |  Palestine 1 – 5 Jordan | Loss
Round 1 |  Palestine 0 – 2 Iraq | Loss
2019
Round 1 |  Palestine 0 – 0 Syria | Draw
Round 1 |  Palestine 0 – 3 Australia | Loss
Round 1 |  Palestine 0 – 0 Jordan | Draw
2023
Round 1 |  Palestine 1 – 4 Iran | Loss
Round 1 |  Palestine 1 – 1 United Arab Emirates | Draw
Round 1 |  Palestine 3 – 0 Hong Kong | Win
Round of 16 |  Palestine 1 – 2 Qatar | Loss

## Participation

[edit]

### 2015 Australia

[edit]

Main article: 2015 AFC Asian Cup

Group D

Main article: 2015 AFC Asian Cup Group D

Pos | Team

* v
* t
* e

| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification

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1  |  Japan | 3  | 3  | 0  | 0  | 7  | 0  | +7  | 9  | Advance to knockout stage
2  |  Iraq | 3  | 2  | 0  | 1  | 3  | 1  | +2  | 6
3  |  Jordan | 3  | 1  | 0  | 2  | 5  | 4  | +1  | 3  |
4  |  Palestine | 3  | 0  | 0  | 3  | 1  | 11  | −10  | 0

Source: Asian Cup Australia 2015
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

|  |

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12 January 2015
Japan | 4–0 |  Palestine | Newcastle Stadium, Newcastle
16 January 2015
Palestine | 1–5 |  Jordan | AAMI Park, Melbourne
20 January 2015
Iraq | 2–0 |  Palestine | Canberra Stadium, Canberra

Palestine's maiden Asian Cup debut occurred in 2015 when they were grouped with Japan, Iraq and Jordan, and thus it was a significant moment for the Palestinian team. Their opening match was against reigning champions Japan which ended in a 0-4 loss. Palestine suffered another loss in their next match, 1–5 to Jordan, in which Jaka Ihbeisheh scored their first ever goal in the Asian Cup. Palestine ended their campaign by a 0–2 defeat to Iraq, thus ended last with zero point.

### 2019 UAE

[edit]

Main article: 2019 AFC Asian Cup

Group B

Main article: 2019 AFC Asian Cup Group B

Pos | Team

* v
* t
* e

| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification

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1  |  Jordan | 3  | 2  | 1  | 0  | 3  | 0  | +3  | 7  | Advance to knockout stage
2  |  Australia | 3  | 2  | 0  | 1  | 6  | 3  | +3  | 6
3  |  Palestine | 3  | 0  | 2  | 1  | 0  | 3  | −3  | 2  |
4  |  Syria | 3  | 0  | 1  | 2  | 2  | 5  | −3  | 1

Source: AFC

6 January 2019 (2019-01-06)

20:00

Syria | 0–0|  Palestine

|
|

| Report |

Sharjah Stadium, Sharjah

Attendance: 8,471

Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)

* * *

11 January 2019 (2019-01-11)

15:00

Palestine | 0–3|  Australia

|
|

| Report |

* Maclaren 18'
* Mabil 20'
* Giannou 90'

Rashid Stadium, Dubai

Attendance: 11,915

Referee: Valentin Kovalenko (Uzbekistan)

* * *

15 January 2019 (2019-01-15)

17:30

Palestine | 0–0|  Jordan

|
|

| Report |

Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Attendance: 20,843

Referee: Mohanad Qassim (Iraq)

Palestine made their second appearance in the tournament, having been drawn with two Levant rivals, Syria and Jordan, as well as for the second time in a row against defending champions, Australia. Palestine, in this tournament, had successfully achieved two points for the first time, with two draws against Syria and Jordan, both ending 0–0. However, their encounter against Australia ended with a 0–3 defeat, which meant that Palestine obtained two points and finished without a goal scored in the tournament. They were eliminated from the tournament as they did not have enough points to qualify as a third-placed team.

### 2023 Qatar

[edit]

Main article: 2023 AFC Asian Cup

Group C

Main article: 2023 AFC Asian Cup Group C

Pos | Team

* v
* t
* e

| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification

|
|
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1  |  Iran | 3  | 3  | 0  | 0  | 7  | 2  | +5  | 9  | Advance to knockout stage
2  |  United Arab Emirates | 3  | 1  | 1  | 1  | 5  | 4  | +1  | 4
3  |  Palestine | 3  | 1  | 1  | 1  | 5  | 5  | 0  | 4
4  |  Hong Kong | 3  | 0  | 0  | 3  | 1  | 7  | −6  | 0  |

Source: AFC

14 January 2024 (2024-01-14)

20:30

Iran | 4–1|  Palestine

|
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* Ansarifard 2'
* Khalilzadeh 12'
* Ghayedi 38'
* Azmoun 55'

| Report |

* Seyam 45+6'

Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan

Attendance: 27,691

Referee: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)

* * *

18 January 2024 (2024-01-18)

20:30

Palestine | 1–1|  United Arab Emirates

|
|

Nasser 50' (o.g.) | Report | Adil 23'

Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah

Attendance: 41,986

Referee: Ahmad Al-Ali (Kuwait)

* * *

23 January 2024 (2024-01-23)

18:00

Hong Kong | 0–3|  Palestine

|
|

| Report |

* Dabbagh 12', 60'
* Z. Qunbar 48'

Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha

Attendance: 6,568

Referee: Shaun Evans (Australia)

Ranking of third-placed teams
Pos | Grp | Team

* v
* t
* e

| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification

|
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1  | E |  Jordan | 3  | 1  | 1  | 1  | 6  | 3  | +3  | 4  | Advance to knockout stage
2  | C |  Palestine | 3  | 1  | 1  | 1  | 5  | 5  | 0  | 4
3  | B |  Syria | 3  | 1  | 1  | 1  | 1  | 1  | 0  | 4
4  | D |  Indonesia | 3  | 1  | 0  | 2  | 3  | 6  | −3  | 3
5  | F |  Oman | 3  | 0  | 2  | 1  | 2  | 3  | −1  | 2  |
6  | A |  China | 3  | 0  | 2  | 1  | 0  | 1  | −1  | 2

Source: AFC

Knockout stage

Main article: 2023 AFC Asian Cup knockout stage

Round of 16

29 January 2024 (2024-01-29)

19:00

Qatar | 2–1|  Palestine

|
|

* Al-Haydos 45+6'
* Afif 49' (pen.)

| Report |

* Dabbagh 37'

Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor

Attendance: 63,753

Referee: Ma Ning (China)

## Squads

[edit]

* v
* t
* e

Palestine squad – 2015 AFC Asian Cup

* 1 Tawfiq
* 2 Fares
* 3 Abu Saleh
* 4 Harbi
* 5 Dheeb
* 6 Abu Jazar
* 7 Nu'man
* 8 Salhe
* 9 Salem
* 10 Al-Amour
* 11 Maher
* 12 Salah
* 13 Ihbeisheh
* 14 Jaber
* 15 Bahdari
* 16 Eid
* 17 Norambuena
* 18 Al-Battat
* 19 Abuhabib
* 20 Yousef
* 21 Saleh (c)
* 22 Hamadeh
* 23 Ismail
* Coach: El-Hassan

* v
* t
* e

Palestine squad – 2019 AFC Asian Cup

* 1 Ali
* 2 Mustafá
* 3 Rashid
* 4 Saleh
* 5 Salah
* 6 Shaban
* 7 Al-Battat
* 8 Cantillana
* 9 Seyam
* 10 Maraaba
* 11 Islame
* 12 Salem
* 13 Ihbeisheh
* 14 Jaber
* 15 Bahdari
* 16 Kaddoura
* 17 Tamburrini
* 18 Dabbagh
* 19 Wadi
* 20 Albadawi
* 21 Norambuena
* 22 Hamadeh
* 23 Darweesh
* Coach: Ould Ali

* v
* t
* e

Palestine squad – 2023 AFC Asian Cup

* 1 Kaddoura
* 2 Khalil
* 3 Rashid
* 4 Hamed
* 5 Saleh
* 6 O. Kharoub
* 7 Al-Battat (c)
* 8 Hassan
* 9 Seyam
* 10 Abu Warda
* 11 Dabbagh
* 12 Saldaña
* 13 S. Qunbar
* 14 Zubaida
* 15 Termanini
* 16 Abuaker
* 17 Farawi
* 18 Mahajna
* 19 Wadi
* 20 Z. Qunbar
* 21 Batran
* 22 Hamadeh
* 23 Jaber
* 24 Issa
* 25 Jondi
* 26 B. Kharoub
* Coach: Daboub

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Asian Cup 2015: Palestinians flying the flag for a nation of two". Independent.co.uk. 15 January 2015. Archived from the original on 2022-05-24.
2. ^ "'Sport is part of our resistance': Palestine football chief Jibril Rajoub". Al Jazeera. 29 January 2024.
3. ^ "AFC Competition Operations Manual (Edition 2023)" (PDF). Asian Football Confederation.

* v
* t
* e

Palestine national football team

* History
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Venues|

* Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium
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|

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|

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* Category:Palestine national football team
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* v
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* e

Football in the State of Palestine

Palestinian Football Federation

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Related|

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* v
* t
* e

Countries at the AFC Asian Cup

* Team appearances

AFF|

* Australia
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Former|

* Israel2
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1 Considered a successor team by FIFA, or have competed under other name(s). 2 Israel was a member of the AFC until 1974. 3 Recognized by FIFA as defunct.
*[Pos]: Position
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[Pld]: Played
*[W]: Won
*[D]: Drawn
*[L]: Lost
*[GF]: Goals for
*[GA]: Goals against
*[GD]: Goal difference
*[Pts]: Points
*[Grp]: Group