Trent Alexander Arnold Against Manchester United.

Trent Alexander Arnold against Manchester United.

(01-09-24)

I know it’s not much in the face of everything but I have been finding hope & resilience in palestinian poetry these past few weeks and I created a google drive file of poetry collections by palestinian poets that I will keep updating as I keep on reading. I also recommend checking out @fiercynn’s palestinian poets series for more poets + poetry available online

The Palestine National Team earned a point in a draw against South Korea in Seoul in their opening match in the AFC qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.

It is their first appearance at the group stage of the World Cup qualifiers.

"It's a big challenge, and our goal is to achieve a positive result. We faced difficulties in preparing for these games," Coach Daboub had told reporters on Wednesday ahead of their Group opener.

"Most notably due to the delayed arrival of many players to the training camp and the lack of friendly matches. We have incomplete squad numbers and most players have not played with their clubs due to the league suspension."

The Palestine Football Association said at least 92 Palestinian players have been killed in the war and their football infrastructure has been completely destroyed.

"We resorted to closed camps to prepare the players physically and psychologically for the qualifiers and maintain their usual level of performance," Daboub added. "We are relying on the available best skilled players to get the points.”

Palestine has been required to play their home matches abroad because of the ongoing genocide. Their match in the preliminary round against Australia last year was moved from Ramallah to Kuwait in November of last year. It would have been the first home game played in Palestine since 2019.

"It was a difficult match, but we were able to come away with a good result because we brought all the players that we could get our hands on. "I am extremely happy to bring joy to our fans in Palestine," Daboub said after the match.

"Our players have the mental fortitude to handle pressure-packed situations," He said. "Obviously, given our country's situation, only few fans were able to come here. But we still wanted to give them a message of hope that we could qualify for the World Cup. We're really happy to get a point tonight."

"I'm so proud of my teammates, my goalkeeping coach and our people in Palestine. It was a hard game against a big team and big stars. We did the job. We came here to do positive things and we took one point. We're proud of this," said goalkeeper Rami Hamada who gave a stellar performance.

Against all odds.

Ibou copying Salah’s celebration 😭

🚨 Alerte Médaille! 🚨

Ibou calling him Mr. Gold medal because of his French Olympic/Paralympic medals coverage 😭