Palestine are denied by late Oman penalty in a 1-1 draw that ends their desires of a primary FIFA World Cup look.
Palestine’s historic Asian Soccer Confederation (AFC) qualifying marketing campaign for the 2026 FIFA World Cup was ended by a late Oman penalty in a 1-1 draw of their ultimate group sport.
Needing a win to achieve the fourth spherical of the AFC qualifiers, Palestine led deep into 5 minutes of damage time by Oday Kharoub’s purpose early within the second half.
The scoreline would have been sufficient to propel Palestine previous Oman into the fourth and ultimate qualifying spot in Group B of the third spherical of the AFC qualifiers – a stage that they had additionally reached for the primary time.
Nonetheless, a tug of the shirt on a runner chasing a free kick from the deep was noticed by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), and Palestine’s dream of a primary look at a soccer World Cup ended with Essam Al-Subhi’s spot kick within the 97th minute of the match.
Kharoub’s headed purpose got here after a tremendous first half for Palestine, during which Michel Termanini struck the bar with a header.
Wessam Ali had a second for Palestine dominated out for a marginal offside, solely moments after Oman’s Harib Al-Saadi noticed purple for a second yellow following a foul on Hamed Hamdan within the 73rd minute.
The decisive second got here, although, when Muhsen Al-Ghassani ran clear within the field in an try to achieve a looped ball within the space. Ahmed Taha’s seize on the runner was deemed unlawful and the eliminating kick was awarded towards Palestine.
Palestine’s AFC Asian Cup almost the spark for World Cup dream
The run to the third spherical of the AFC World Cup qualifiers for the primary time adopted Palestine’s outstanding feat of reaching the knockout stages of the final AFC Asian Cup for the primary time.
A primary look at soccer’s international showpiece was just one extra spherical away till the late drama on the King Abdullah II Stadium in Amman, Jordan, the place Palestine had been pressured to stage their residence matches on account of Israel’s battle on Gaza.
The total-time whistle, and with it, anticipated scenes of untamed celebration was cruelly solely seconds away for Palestine.
As an alternative, the strain that was palpably constructing forward of the referee calling an finish to the match turned to scenes of despair as tears rolled down the cheeks of the Palestine gamers, a lot of whom collapsed to the ground in disbelief.
Oman now be part of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Iraq and Indonesia, who lost 6-0 to Japan earlier within the day, within the fourth spherical of qualifiers, from which two groups will be part of the already six certified nations from the third spherical of qualifiers.
One ultimate probability will probably be obtainable for the third-placed staff from the fourth spherical of qualifiers, as that nation will progress to the FIFA Intercontinental Playoffs in a last-chance saloon to line up at subsequent 12 months’s finals.
Australia turned the ultimate staff to substantiate their computerized qualification from the third spherical of qualifiers after they noticed off Saudi Arabia’s problem for second spot in Group C with a 2-1 win in Jeddah.
Alongside Australia – Japan, Iran, South Korea, Uzbekistan and Jordan, completed as the highest two finishers of their group to ebook their locations on the 2026 event in the US, Canada and Mexico. The latter two qualified for a World Cup for the first time.
