Originally founded in 1928, the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) came into being in 1962 and has overseen a national team which has often led a nomadic existence.
After being recognised by world governing body FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 1998, the PFA did not have a home until its 6,000-capacity Al-Ram stadium opened in the West Bank 10 years later.
Turbulence in the region, however, has meant that Palestine have tended to host matches overseas, last playing at Al-Ram in 2019.
Their second round of 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers are the latest set of fixtures in which Palestine are likely to host games in a variety of different countries.
Here’s what we know so far about where the team trying to reach the next edition of the finals will be playing their home games.
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Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh have been among the countries to accommodate Palestine home games in recent years.
They have also played home games in Iraq and Jordan, where the team ranked 96th in the world by FIFA before the start of the second round of their qualifying campaign based themselves at the start of that campaign. Kuwait City is set to be the latest place to host a Palestine home international match.
Algeria initially offered to host Palestine’s scheduled matches following the start of the current conflict involving Israel and Hamas on October 7.
FIFA and the AFC did not allow that to happen because they ruled that Palestine must play games in Asia, which they have now arranged to do.
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Their only scheduled home game between the start of the war and the end of 2023 will take place at Kuwait’s Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium.
The 60,000-capacity setting will be the venue for Palestine’s match with Australia in Group I, when they will be huge underdogs against opponents ranked 69 places above them on FIFA’s list at the start of play. The game kicks off on Tuesday, November 20 at 5pm local time.
⚽🇦🇺 A player-led effort with Football Australia matching the players’ donation, the Socceroos will donate a portion of their match fees from their World Cup qualifier against Palestine towards humanitarian causes in Gaza.
Read more: https://t.co/15DGP7HI1l pic.twitter.com/Es7rhE9nQa
Palestine are yet to qualify for a World Cup in their history.
They need to finish in the top two of their group to reach the third round of the Asian World Cup qualifiers for the first time.
The likes of Japan, South Korea, Australia and Saudi Arabia have usually been dominant sides in AFC qualifying in recent decades. As of November 2023, Palestine were FIFA’s highest-ranked team in Group I apart from Australia.
Hong Kong/Bhutan
The top two teams from each group will secure a direct qualification to the group stages of the Asian Cup 2027.
There are five rounds in the World Cup qualifying campaign, with the first two rounds also serving as the qualification route for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.
The number of Asian teams at the finals has been doubled from four to eight for the 2026 World Cup.
Ben Miller is a content producer for The Sporting News.
