Palestine held AFC giants South Korea to a draw in World Cup qualifiers Football News

Palestine opened their 2026 World Cup qualifying group stage with an impressive goalless draw with South Korea in Seoul. Palestine held South Korea to a good, yet surprising, 0-0 draw in their first Group C match at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). AFC) Qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. The impressive results in Seoul continue the rise of Palestinian football, which peaked earlier this year with qualifying for the knockout stages of the AFC Cup for the first time at the tournament held in Qatar. Palestine’s appearance in the group stage of a World Cup qualifier is also a first, but with 11 appearances at football’s global showpiece event. South Korea boasted a number of star names in the English Premier League, including striker Son Heung-min – the captain of Tottenham Hotspur – but were unable to breach the Palestinian defence. Palestine overcomes many obstacles to hold off South Korea The odds were also high against Palestine as South Korea have not lost a home qualifier since 2013 while their hosts were ranked 14th in the world by FIFA – Which is the 96th place in the Lions of Canaan ranking. South Korea’s Son Heung-min, center, battles for the ball with Palestine’s Atta Jaber, left, and Musab Batt, right, during a FIFA World Cup 2026 Asia Zone qualifier. [Jung Yeon-je/AFP]
Despite these setbacks, Palestine appeared to break the deadlock in the 22nd minute with a try correctly ruled as off-side. Hong Myung-bo is the hosts’ fourth coach this year and his side struggled to get their talisman and captain 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 a close-range effort was well saved by Palestinian goalkeeper Rami Hamadeh. Hamadeh was called into action again by Lee in the 74th minute as he aimed a free kick over the bar after the South Korean shot wide to cancel out 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. A fan holds a banner during the match that reads ‘South Korea and Palestine go to the World Cup together’ [Kim Soo-Hyeon/Reuters]
How Palestine can secure a place at 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 region’s 18 remaining teams. Iraq and Jordan are the other two strong favorites 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. has gone In addition to the two automatic qualifiers from the group stage, six teams, including the best third and fourth place finishers from the three groups, will advance to the next stage consisting of two groups. Three teams from these groups 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 spots. The Palestinians, meanwhile, are playing their home matches abroad, usually in the Middle East, because of the war on Gaza. The local league has been suspended and many players are without a club. The 2026 World Cup will be held in Canada, Mexico and the United States, with the final itself being held in the United States. Palestinian players line up for anthems ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Asia Zone qualifier in South Korea. [Jung Yeon-je/AFP]

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