Palestine’s national football team has narrowly lost a World Cup qualifier against Australia. In Kuwait City it became 1-0 for the favorite Australia thanks to a goal by Harry Souttar. Palestine, not recognized as a country by most Western countries, has been a member of the world football association FIFA since 1998.
The Palestinian football team must avoid home matches as long as the war situation in Gaza continues. Algeria had offered to organize the matches, but FIFA and the Asian Football Association ruled that the matches should be played in Asia.
In Kuwait City, Harry Souttar opened the scoring in the 18th minute with a striking header after a corner kick from Craig Goodwin. It turned out to be the only goal. For Australia, AZ goalkeeper Matthew Ryan was in goal.
Palestine previously played a draw (0-0) against Lebanon, Bangladesh is the fourth country in group I. The best two countries qualify for the next round in the Asian World Cup qualification.
It was previously announced that the Australian football players would donate part of their bounty for humanitarian support in the war zone. The money will be transferred to the international aid organization Oxfam. “We talked about it with the group. The death of civilians is a tragedy in any conflict and that must be the priority,” 30-year-old international Jackson Irvine told Australian news agency AAP.
South Korea
South Korea also won its second match in the 2026 World Cup qualifying series. Jürgen Klinsmann’s team was too strong for China 3-0 in Shenzhen. Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min had a leading role with two goals and an assist.
Son converted a penalty to make it 1-0 in the 11th minute, after which he doubled the lead with a header just before half-time. Jeong Seung-hyun headed in the 3-0 from a free kick by the 31-year-old star player in the 87th minute.
South Korea, which won 5-0 against Singapore last week, has 6 points after two games. Thailand and China follow with 3 points, Singapore is still scoreless. The first two teams from each group qualify for the second qualifying phase.
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