Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium (Arabic: ملعب فيصل الحسيني الدولي) is an association football stadium on Dahiat al'Barid Street in Al-Ram. It is one of the home stadiums of the Palestine national football team. It is named after Faisal Husseini, a Palestinian politician who died in 2001. The stadium has a seating capacity of 12,500 spectators.
Palestine international matches
On 26 October 2008, the team played Jordan in their first-ever home international in 10 years of FIFA membership. In attendance were FIFA President Sepp Blatter and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.[1] On 29 October 2009, the Palestinian national women's football team played its first home international match against Jordan before a capacity crowd at the stadium.[2]
On 9 March 2011, Palestine "played its first ever competitive match at home in the West Bank". It was the second leg of a qualifier for the 2012 Olympic Games, against Thailand. Thailand had won the first leg 1–0 in Bangkok; Palestine won the second 1–0 at the stadium, with a goal by Abdelhamid Abuhabib in the 43rd minute. The draw on aggregate led to a penalty shootout, with Thailand winning 6–5. Attending the match was Prime Minister Fayyad, who described it as a "historic day".[3]
On 3 July 2011, the stadium hosted "the first World Cup game ever to be played at home in the Palestinian territories". The game was the second leg of a two-match encounter against Afghanistan, in the first round of the Asian Football Confederation qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The game was a draw, enabling Palestine to advance to the second round on aggregate. Afghanistan were eliminated.[4]
