Palestine participated in their maiden AFC Asian Cup, the 2015 tournament, held in Australia. It was the first time Palestine qualified for the Asian Cup, and this performance has been accredited for the rise of Palestine in international arena, and the team is widely seen as the symbol of unity for Palestinians amidst the conflict between Hamas and Fatah over control of Palestinian Authority.[1] Their second competition appearance came in 2019.

Records

AFC Asian Cup Finals record AFC Asian Cup qualification
Hosts / year Result Position GP W D* L GS GA GP W D* L GS GA
Hong Kong 1956 to United Arab Emirates 1996 Did not enter Did not enter
Lebanon 2000 Did not qualify 4 1 0 3 3 8
China 2004 6 0 2 4 3 11
Indonesia Malaysia Thailand Vietnam 2007 5 1 1 3 3 9
Qatar 2011 2 0 2 0 1 1
Australia 2015 Group stage 16th 3 0 0 3 1 11 13 8 3 2 18 7
United Arab Emirates 2019 Group stage 17th 3 0 2 1 0 3 14 9 2 3 49 8
Qatar 2023 Qualified 11 6 1 4 20 10
Saudi Arabia 2027 To be determined To be determined
Total Group stage 3/19 4 1 3 5 4 19 40 17 6 17 78 46
*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

By match

AFC Asian Cup History
Year Round Score Result
2015
Round 1  Palestine 0 – 4  Japan Loss
Round 1  Palestine 1 – 5  Jordan Loss
Round 1  Palestine 0 – 2  Iraq Loss
2019
Round 1  Palestine 0 – 0  Syria Draw
Round 1  Palestine 0 – 3  Australia Loss
Round 1  Palestine 0 – 0  Jordan Draw

Participation

2015 Australia

Main article: 2015 AFC Asian Cup

Group D

Main article: 2015 AFC Asian Cup Group D

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Japan 3 3 0 0 7 0 +7 9 Advance to knockout stage
2  Iraq 3 2 0 1 3 1 +2 6
3  Jordan 3 1 0 2 5 4 +1 3
4  Palestine 3 0 0 3 1 11 −10 0
Source: Asian Cup Australia 2015
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
12 January 2015
Japan  4–0  Palestine Newcastle Stadium, Newcastle
16 January 2015
Palestine  1–5  Jordan AAMI Park, Melbourne
20 January 2015
Iraq  2–0  Palestine Canberra Stadium, Canberra

Palestine's maiden Asian Cup debut occurred in 2015 when they were grouped with Japan, Iraq and Jordan, and thus it has a significant effect for the Palestinian team. Their opening match, however, was a match against Asian champion Japan, and they lost 0–4. Palestine continued to suffer another loss, 1–5 to Jordan, which Jaka Ihbeisheh scored their first ever goal in the Asian Cup. Palestine ended their campaign by a 0–2 defeat to Iraq, thus ended last with zero point.

2019 UAE

Main article: 2019 AFC Asian Cup

Group B

Main article: 2019 AFC Asian Cup Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Jordan 3 2 1 0 3 0 +3 7 Advance to knockout stage
2  Australia 3 2 0 1 6 3 +3 6
3  Palestine 3 0 2 1 0 3 −3 2
4  Syria 3 0 1 2 2 5 −3 1
Source: AFC
Syria 0–0 Palestine
Report

Palestine 0–3 Australia
Report
Rashid Stadium, Dubai
Attendance: 11,915
Referee: Valentin Kovalenko (Uzbekistan)

Palestine 0–0 Jordan
Report

Palestine will make their second debut in the tournament, having drawn with two Levant rivals, Syria and Jordan, as well as for the second times against another defending champions, Australia. Palestine, on this tournament, had successfully achieved two points for the first time, with two draws against Syria and Jordan, both ended 0–0. However, their encounter against Australia ended with a 0–3 defeat, which mean Palestine obtained two points, but scored no goal in the tournament. This poor performance caused Palestine to be eliminated from the Asian Cup for the second times.

2023 Qatar

Main article: 2023 AFC Asian Cup

Group C

Main article: 2023 AFC Asian Cup Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Iran 3 3 0 0 7 2 +5 9 Advance to knockout stage
2  United Arab Emirates 3 1 1 1 5 4 +1 4
3  Palestine 3 1 1 1 5 5 0 4
4  Hong Kong 3 0 0 3 1 7 −6 0
Source: AFC
Iran 4–1 Palestine
Report

Palestine 1–1 United Arab Emirates
Report
Al Janoub Stadium, Al Wakrah
Attendance: 41,986
Referee: Ahmad Al-Ali (Kuwait)

Hong Kong 0–3 Palestine
Report

Squads

References

  1. ^ "Asian Cup 2015: Palestinians flying the flag for a nation of two". Independent.co.uk. 15 January 2015. Archived from the original on 2022-05-24.