As World Cup qualification draws go- this one can be labelled: Not Great, Not Terrible.
By being placed in Pot 2, Palestine would have hoped to face a team in Pot 3 who had never been to the Third Round of World Cup qualification. Landing in the same group with two teams competing in the preliminaries would have been ideal.
Avoiding the likes of a serial World Cup participant who play on another continent would have also given Palestine a better chance of advancing.
That said, Palestine did avoid being grouped with a team from Pot 4 capable of causing an upset, most notably Indonesia. Palestine has a near perfect record against the likes of Bangladesh and Maldives, with their only draws coming in dead rubbers in the final group stage matches of the AFC Challenge Cup in 2006 and 2014.
Travel Logistics
The world’s best national teams travel by charter jet in first class surroundings. This is most definitely not the travel experience enjoyed by the Palestinian national team. If Palestine takes care of business and clinches qualification before match day six (when Palestine is slated to play Australia away) then travel should be rather straightforward.
Bangladesh and Maldives are closer and easier to get to than some of the other destinations. Palestine will face the Pot 4 opponent in back-to-back encounters in March 2024. The national team would have to depart from Amman to Dubai or Doha- meeting with some of the internationally based players there- and then continuing the journey to South Asia. That said, match days three and four will involve the most travel. The first match would be held in Dhaka or Male meaning Palestine will have twice as many miles under their legs as their opponents.
On the flip side, the order of matches means that the first two match days will involve very little travel. Palestine will play Lebanon away before making the short trip back home to face Australia five days later.
Will Lebanon play in Palestine?
The answer, given that Lebanon is still officially at war with Israel, is no. The Lebanese government has been pretty clear in its stance and we have seen Palestinian clubs lose their right to host games in the AFC Cup against Lebanese opponents. No amount of obfiscating the fact that Israel is in control of the border with Jordan will convince the powers that be to change their position.
The question now is whether or not a compromise can be reached. It is highly unlikely that the AFC forces Lebanon to play in Palestine and and awards a 3-0 win in the event of a no-show. As such, this should be the time where a compromise is struck between the two FAs. Perhaps the two sides can pick a neutral location of their choosing to host both games.
The rest of the draw is as follows:
