Palestinian football team prepares for World Cup qualifying games against a backdrop of war

NEW DELHI: Makram Daboub may be struggling to prepare his Palestinian team for the start of the 2026 World Cup qualification but he takes some comfort, for now at least, that his players stuck in Gaza are safe.

The national football team’s head coach wanted to include Ibrahim Abuimeir, Khaled Al-Nabris, and Ahmed Al-Kayed in a training camp in Jordan ahead of World Cup qualifying games against Lebanon next Thursday and Australia on November 21.

But they were unable to make it out of Gaza because of the Israel-Hamas war, now in its second month.

“So far they are fine,” Daboub told The Associated Press. “Many of their relatives have died, however, as a result of the bombing.”

Two players from Gaza, Egypt-based Mohamed Saleh and Mahmoud Wadi are expected to join the Palestinian team in Jordan.

Daboub, who is from Tunisia, acknowledged it will be difficult for players to focus on football while many have families in danger.

“With the death and destruction in Gaza, the players are in a difficult psychological state,” Daboub said.

But for Susan Shalabi, the vice-president of the Palestine Football Association, there’s no question that the players and the people want the games to go ahead.

“This is a people that wants to be heard and seen by the rest of the world, wants to live normally like everyone else, so people care about their national team,” Shalabi told The AP. “It represents the yearning to be recognized as a free and sovereign nation.” Agencies

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