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Palestine return to competitive action for the first time since the 2023 AFC Asian Cup this week. Once again, Kuwait City will be their home away from home as the ongoing genocide in Gaza has prevented international football matches taking place in Palestine.
In the lead up to this pair of games, Bangladesh and Palestine agreed to swap their home games. That move allowed Palestine to continue using the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium as their home fixture no longer coincides with Kuwait’s match against Qatar.
There are notable absences in the squad most of which are due to injury. Tamer Seyam and Ataa Jaber are only just returning to fitness and Mahmoud Wadi has been training on his own since returning to Egypt.
Goalkeeper Amr Kaddoura misses out; presumably to continue preparing for the upcoming Superettan season with Landskrona BoIS.
Football Palestine can also confirm that Al-Ahly forward Wessam Abou Ali would have joined the squad this month if not for a hamstring pull he is currently recovering from. As such, the former Denmark youth international’s debut will have to wait until the June window.
There are also some new faces in the team. Mahdi Assi joins the senior team as the third choice goalkeeper and Anas Bani Owda and Ameed Sawafta return to the fold after securing clubs in Jordan. Most notably, Mahmoud Eid makes a triumphant return after a two year absence on the back of sterling performances in the Asian Champions League and the Thai top flight.
The rest of the squad is as follows:
Palestine have faced Bangladesh six times previously and have won the last five encounters dating back to 2011 scoring nine times and keeping a clean sheet in all five games. The teams drew their first encounter 1-1 back in 2006.
