Palestine men's football team eye World Cup and homecoming

Rami Hamadeh has done what many of the world's best goalkeepers have failed to do: keep Tottenham Hotspur star Son Heung-min off the scoresheet. But a few days before helping his Palestinian team secure a crucial and historic 0-0 draw in South Korea last Thursday, Hamadeh had been training on his own in Jerusalem while looking for a new club against the bloody backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war.

"It is difficult," he told DW. "The war is the worst thing in the world. Everyone, everywhere, wants to live in peace. I don't want to see my people die like this: children, women, men. It's not easy to see what we see every day.

"But we take our power, our positivity from those people who support us. We really play for these people who are under the war now, and I hope it will stop soon."

World Cup dream in sight

The Palestinians, referred to as Palestine by FIFA, have a genuine chance to qualify for the World Cup in 2026. They reached the third round of qualification in Asia, a result of the expansion of the tournament doubling Asia's quota. The Palestinians can qualify by finishing in the top two of a group that also includes Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait and Oman. Even the third- and fourth-placed teams get another shot at qualifying, and the draw against South Korea featuring Hamadeh's saves was a strong start.

"Even if we only have a 0.001% chance, we will fight to be in the World Cup because we are people who love to live the dream," the goalkeeper continued.

Though the Palestinians officially have five home matches in the group, they are currently playing those in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. That's despite an 11th-hour decision from FIFA, football's world governing body, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), to allow the team to play these qualifiers at home for the first time in five years.

"I think in the future, it will be possible," said Hamadeh, with his team's next home match slated to be against Kuwait on October 15.

"The president of our federation said the next match is, Inshallah, to be in Palestine, our home. That makes us even stronger. To play at home will be a great feeling for us. We take power from our fans, and it will be full. But, most importantly, it's home, and if you play at home, that's different."

Door open to homecoming

The logistical challenges of a homecoming would be huge and potentially insurmountable, according to journalist Bassil Mikdadi, who runs the Football Palestine website. But the moral questions loom larger still. One of the most historic football stadiums in Gaza, the Yarmouk Stadium, was used as an internment camp by the Israeli Defense Force, as shown in harrowing images released last December. And the Palestinian Olympic Committee now estimates 400 sportspeople have been killed in the war.

While FIFA took some action on the issue of home matches, Gianni Infantino's organization has repeatedly kicked the can down the road, most recently on August 31, regarding the Palestine Football Association's (PFA) call for it to impose a ban Israel. Mikdadi finds this unacceptable.

"Israel had an illegal occupation of at the very least the West Bank and the Gaza Strip for coming up on 60 years now, and it hasn't cost them their FIFA membership. And given the well-documented atrocities that have been committed against the Palestinian people in Gaza, against footballers and against football institutions… It makes you think that letting the Palestinians play at home is a consolation prize."

In fact, in addition to Israel's internationally acknowledged borders, the country has been occupying the West Bank and the Golan Heights since 1967, with it also having settlements in both regions. Under international law, this is illegal. While Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005, its forces have been operating in the enclave since the October 7 terrorist attacks by Islamist group Hamas. 

Israel denies that it is illegally occupying any Palestinian territories. After the International Court of Justice issued an advisory ruling last July stating that Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories was illegal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the ruling as a "decision of lies."

The comparison between Russia's war on Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war is also considered to be flawed by many observers. While Ukraine didn't initially attack Russia, the latest Israel-Hamas war was sparked by the events of October 7, when Hamas militants led incursions into Israel, killing around 1,200 people, and taking some 250 hostages, mostly civilians.

FIFA decision due in October

The PFA had submitted a proposal to suspend Israel in May, but after initially promising action in July and again in August, FIFA now says a decision will be made in October. Such delays meant Israel could compete in the football tournament at the Paris Olympics and is currently competing in the UEFA Nations League.

"FIFA has received the independent legal assessment of the Palestine Football Association's proposals against Israel," FIFA said. "This assessment will be sent to the FIFA Council for review so that the subject can be discussed at its next meeting, which will take place in October."

Israel has denied the PFA's accusations. Israel Football Association President Moshe Zuares called it a "cynical, political and hostile attempt by the Palestinian Association to harm Israeli football."

Messages from home

Mikdadi said that, given the circumstances, this side's progress in qualification is remarkable.

"I think it speaks to the character of the team, the mindset of the team, and also the quality and the individual professionalism of the players involved."

Hamadeh is a good example of this. While much of the Palestinian squad plays abroad, particularly in Libya, a handful remain in their homeland. The goalkeeper is one of them. He has been without a club for a year and trains in a local gym with a goalkeeping coach, but is still able to perform at the highest level. He sees the qualifiers and the chance of going to the World Cup in North America as an opportunity to put himself in the shop window. But, more than that, he sees his team's performance as a rare ray of hope.

"I want to tell you how many messages came to me from Gaza, from Palestine," he said. "We make the people happy. We play for these people. What's happened in Palestine is something gross. It's not easy to live there. Now it's not easy to watch what happens there. So when those people who are inside the war watch us, it's really give us motivation to play. We play to make these people happy."

Edited by: Chuck Penfold