The past nine months have been a trying time for Palestinian football. The Leagues in the West Bank are suspended and the Gaza’s football infrastructure has been completely decimated by Israel’s genocidal campaign.
The senior men’s and women’s teams have stepped up to meet the challenge. Palestine qualified for the knockout rounds of the AFC Asian Cup for the first time ever this past January and followed that up by clinching a spot in Round 3 of Asian World Cup qualifiers.
Palestine’s women’s team had their moment too- beating Syria and Iraq at the WAFF Championships, winning a glamour friendly vs. Bohemian FC in Dublin, and winning a pair of friendlies against Bahrain earlier this month.
This week sees Palestine’s U20 team in action at the WAFF Championship the first of three youth tournaments that will gauge how future proofed Palestine’s golden generations is.
Palestine is in a group with Syria, Bahrain, and UAE who should provide a stern test ahead of September’s qualifiers for the 2025 U20 AFC Asian Cup.
In three months’ time Palestine will travel to Saudi Arabia to face the hosts, Australia, Afghanistan, and Macau. The national team has never qualified for the U20 or U17 finals. Its lone success at youth level remains qualifying for the 2018 edition of the U23 Asian Cup.
The path to the finals of the U17 competition does not seem any less daunting with Uzbekistan and Iraq in the same group.
To further bolster their chances Palestine has turned to the diaspora to plug the gaps. The U20 team currently in Saudi Arabia for the WAFF Championships features some familiar faces from previous campaigns.
Defender Khaled Abu El Haija (18) plies his trade in the German fourth division with Carl Zeiss Jenna and former Bulgaria youth international midfielder Monir Al-Badarin (18) are back to lead the charge.
The side is made up of players plying their trades in Germany (6), Spain, Lebanon, Peru, and The Netherlands. Two players- Goalkeeper Rami Al-Jabareen and forward Mohammed Habiballah are on the books of clubs in the Israeli league reducing the dependence on players tied to WBPL clubs (11/23).
The full squad can be accessed, here.
Palestine gets their campaign underway on Wednesday June 26th against Syria.
