Heartbreaking draw ends Palestine's chances at 2026 World Cup
Palestine’s improbable run in World Cup qualification came to an end on Tuesday night in controversial fashion. It will be a match that will live long in the memory- but for all the wrong reasons.
The protagonist of the encounter was a man whose job it is to be invisible. After all, referees are paid to get decisions right and if they do their job they remain an afterthought.
With one inexplicable whistle Mooud Bonyadifard became the star of this match. His assistants in the video control room seemed insistent on making sure that was the case.
In the 95th minute with only seconds of time added on remaining a hopeful ball was lofted into Palestine’s penalty area. Muhsen Al-Ghassani launched himself onto the ground but the ball was expertly collected by Rami Hamadi who was on the brink of his 29th international clean sheet.
A very short video review did not result in the summoning of Bonyadifard to the monitor. The call stood and Oman- who had a grand total of zero shots on goal scored the equalizer with virtually the last kick of the game.
That result put Oman back in fourth place in Group B- awarding them the final playoff spot. The sultanate will now battle it out with two teams amongst a field that includes Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq, and Indonesia for Asia’s seventh and eighth spots at the 2026 World Cup.
Palestine are condemned to elimination having been so close to keeping their dreams alive.
In the sober reality of elimination an objective postmortem can be formed. That said, it is almost impossible to ignore the reality of such an egregious error at a critical time in such a high stakes game.
It also begs the question as to why a referee with such little experience at an elite level was handed the whistle for the only game of relevance in Asia on Match Day 10.
Fans who fell in love with the team over its heroic 20 month campaign will be left asking questions the grisled supporters have been asking for the past 20 years.
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The narrative of the game could- and perhaps should- have been so much different. Palestine were in control in the first half and a headed effort by Michel Termanini from a corner smashed into the crossbar.
It was a signal of intent. Oman needing only a draw showed no intent at all in the first half.
Nonetheless, Palestine needed a spark and at halftime Agustín Manzur made way for the more attack minded Adam Kaied. The substitute had an instant impact and four minutes into the second half he had his third assist in just four games with the national team.
The source of the goal was an unlikely hero. Odai Kharoub has been with the team for the last eight years but was always an auxiliary player. He debuted in 2017 to little fanfare. At the beginning of this campaign he seemed more likely to get cut than to get elevated into a starting role. His late career blossoming is a testament to hard work done in the shadows.
It was not the first time he popped up in critical situations to help the team. Back in October 2024 with Palestine down to ten men and trailing Kuwait 2-1 his cross found Zaid Qunbar for an equalizer that kept Palestine’s faint hopes alive.
Last week in Kuwait his lofted ball found Oday Dabbagh and his name sake set up Tamer Seyam for the opener en route to a 2-0 victory.
The Hableh native walked away with the Man of the Match trophy for his efforts tonight in Amman.
In addition to the obvious refereeing error there should also be questions asked as to the management of this team. Ehab Abu Jazar was an emergency appointment after Makram Dabboub was given his marching orders. While the Rafah native did well to revive the squad’s chances he is not without fault.
The controversial nature of the game will paper over the conservative approach to the final fifteen minutes of the game. Palestine had a man advantage after Harbi Al-Saadi was sent off in the 75th minute. Two chances fell for Wessam Abou Ali in the final 15 minutes but the Al-Ahly star failed to convert. Palestine were sitting so far deep that there was no natural outlet to relieve the pressure on their defenders.
Palestine will rue their luck in this and many other matches. A 16-match gauntlet has come to an end with Palestine showing they are able to challenge any team in Asia. In spite of the heartbreak and failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup this could be the start- and not the end- of something special.
Palestine are already qualified to the 2027 Asian Cup and will have the revived FIFA Arab Cup at the end of the year to look forward to.
If lessons can be learned from this campaign then the team can come back stronger and write a sequel to what has been an incredible 20 month campaign.
