Palestine's squad mostly play in the Qatari, UAE and Egyptian leagues. A couple in the Israeli Premier League. There are apparently a few Israeli Arab clubs in the Ligat HaAl. Must be interesting when they play Jewish far right backed Beitar Jerusalem FC (BiBi is a supporter)!
This will be a good test - anyone expecting it to be a walkover like the OFC nations are will get a wake-up call. These guys have had close results against the middle eastern heavyweights and Australia.
Yeah NZF have done well to somehow negotiate this Palestine match ahead of the rumoured lowly Turkmenistan. Will likely now be a much tougher and more worthwhile game
In WC qualifying Socceroos only beat Palestine 1-0 in neutral Kuwait. Though they did later canter to a 5-0 win in Perth
Historic Milestone: Palestine reached the third round of AFC World Cup qualification for the first time, playing their home matches in neutral venues like Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, and Malaysia due to security concerns.
Heartbreak Finish: Their qualification dream ended on June 10, 2025, after a 1–1 draw against Oman in their final group game. A late controversial penalty for Oman denied Palestine the win they needed.
Final Standings: Palestine finished fifth in Group B with a strong showing, missing out on the fourth-round spot by just a single point.
What's the guts here because by all accounts as part of this friendly tournament previously it was Turkmenistan we were supposedly lined up to face? Did we pull rank with the "Oh no we've been to a world cup now, we're much too large for this sort of fixture" and make the organizers do the old switcharoo and thats why it was so late to get an official announcement?
Best of luck to us but I'd be pleasantly surprised if we came away with two wins over similarly ranked teams in this window.
about 23 hours ago· edited about 23 hours ago· History
There are actually 5 teams getting together in Chongqing. AWs, China, Palestine, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. We are only playing the 2 games before flying onto Japan, but the other 4 teams all playing 4 games in Chongqing it seems??
China keen for this little tourney as part of their prep for 2027 Asian Cup (Jan next year).
Maybe NZF said to the Chinese if you want high profile EPL player Chris Wood to turn up, AWs need to play the two best sides (China & Palestine) not the weaker 'stan teams?? Having the Woodsman there will help the Chinese market the tourney esp the NZ v China game.
An official announcement from New Zealand football has confirmed a first ever encounter between Al-Fida’i and the All Whites Sep 12, 2026.
More changes have come for this month’s Chongqing football tournament. The Chinese Football Association (CFA) had been intent on hosting its own tournament for months since July but has shuffled opponents and fixtures for a second time in two weeks.
New Zealand’s participation in the tournament was announced last month but in a twist the All Whites had only agreed to participate in two fixtures.
This was designed so that the team could participate in the Kirin Cup which features the higher ranked Panama, Japan, and Ecuador. China obliged but initially handed the Kiwis an opening fixture against Turkmenistan on September 24th.
China was due to play Palestine on the same date.
It has now been announced that Palestine will play New Zealand on September 24th. China and New Zealand will still meet as planned three days later.
Palestine can still fulfill their fixtures on the 28th (vs. Turkmenistan) and October 2nd (vs. Tajikistan).
The CFA have yet to announce a revised schedule for their national team but it is conceivable that China could play Tajikistan on the 24th and play Palestine on the final match day of October 6th.
