Last Updated on 05/09/2024 by Arun jain
Palestine held South Korea to a well-deserved, yet surprising, 0-0 draw in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.
The remarkable result in Seoul continues the rise of Palestinian football, which peaked earlier this year Qualification for the knockout stages of the AFC Cup for the first time In a tournament held in Qatar.
It is also Palestine’s first appearance in the group stage of the World Cup qualifiers, but their match against the AFC’s record qualifiers with 11 appearances at football’s global showpiece event held little hope.
South Korea boasted several star names, including striker Son Heung-min – captain of Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League – but were unable to breach the Palestinian defence.
Palestine overcomes many obstacles to hold South Korea
The odds were also heavy against Palestine as South Korea have not lost a home qualifier since 2013 when their hosts were ranked 14th in the world by FIFA – compared to the Lions of Canaan ranking 96th.
Despite those setbacks, Palestine looked to have broken the deadlock in just the 22nd minute as efforts were correctly ruled as off-side.
Hong Myung-bo is the hosts’ fourth coach this year and his team struggled to get their talisman and captain’s son into the game, while the defense looked shaky.
Their best effort of the first half fell to Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in, but Palestinian goalkeeper Rami Hamadeh did well to beat a close-range effort.
Hamadeh was called into action again by Lee in the 74th minute as he fired a free kick over the bar shortly after the South Korean shot wide to deny another good start.
Ode Dabbagh went close for Palestine, whose legs were tiring, on the break, before Son rattled off the post in the dying minutes.
How Palestine can secure a place in the 2026 World Cup
After the second round of preliminary knockout matches, the group stages of the AFC qualifiers have now been drawn by the remaining 18 teams from the region.
Iraq and Jordan are the other two strong favourites, along with South Korea, to take the two automatic qualifying positions for the World Cup in Group C, with Palestine, Oman and Kuwait seen as distant outsiders to challenge for the top spots.
In addition to the two automatic qualifiers from the group stage, six teams, including the best third- and fourth-placed finishers from the three groups, will advance to the next stage comprising two groups. Three teams from each group in this group will face each other once at a neutral venue. The top two teams will advance to the World Cup.
The second-placed teams will face each other in a playoff for a place in the intercontinental playoffs for the remaining World Cup berths.
Palestine, meanwhile, is playing their home matches abroad, usually in the Middle East, because of the war on Gaza. The domestic league has been suspended and many players are without a club.
This The World Cup will be held in 2026 The finals were held in the US across Canada, Mexico and the United States.
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