The Palestinian Football Association has announced that FIFA, the international governing body of the sport, has granted approval for the national team to host its matches on home turf as part of the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
In a statement issued through its official social media account on Wednesday, the association said, “Recently, we received confirmation from both the international and Asian federations that the match between Palestine and Jordan will be held at Faisal Al-Husseini Stadium in Palestine as part of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.”
The statement went on to explain, “However, yesterday, Tuesday, we received notification from the Asian and international federations indicating that hosting the match in Palestine would be impossible due to time constraints and concerns that the Zionist occupation might impede our Jordanian counterparts’ arrival. Additionally, there were worries about the access of the technical staff assigned to oversee the match, along with delegations from both federations. Consequently, we were compelled to relocate this match to Malaysia.”
The Palestinian team is scheduled to travel to South Korea on September 5 for the first round of Group B qualifiers, followed by a home match against Jordan on September 10, also taking place in Malaysia.
The statement emphasized that preparations are underway to host the third match for the Palestinian team against Kuwait at Faisal Al-Husseini Stadium in Palestine, set for October 15.
This marks a historic moment as it is the first time the Palestinian national team will participate in the third and final round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. They will compete in Group B alongside South Korea, Iraq, Oman, Jordan, and Kuwait, with the top two teams from the group securing direct qualification for the finals.
