1928–1940: Mandatory Palestine Football has a long tradition in
Palestine. The game was originally introduced during the time of the
Ottoman Empire. The Palestinian Football Association was formed in August 1928, and joined
FIFA in June 1929, but at the time, the association was made up of Arab clubs, Jewish clubs, and clubs representing British policemen and soldiers serving in the region during the British Mandate rule that spanned the period between
World War I and the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. The
Mandatory Palestine national team made its debut against
Cairo (Egypt) in
1934 FIFA World Cup qualification, losing 0–5 in
Cairo, Egypt. The team played five international matches, including
a friendly match against
Lebanon that Palestine won 1–5; until the British Mandate for Palestine national team was dissolved. During those five games, the national team fielded only
Jewish players.
Maccabi leader
Yosef Yekutieli attempted for Maccabi Association's membership in the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) as early as 1925. The application was turned down, as only associations representing states could be admitted as members. Yekutieli thus decided to create the
Palestine Football Association (PFA). Maccabi officials were obliged to include Arab teams. The association's first session was held in the summer of 1928. Notwithstanding the fourteen Jewish representatives that partook, one Arab delegate participated – an individual representing Arab Sports Club of Jerusalem. FIFA accepted the PFA on 17 May 1929 and during the first years of the PFA, Arab clubs partook in PFA sanctioned-matches. During this time, 11 of the 69 PFA teams were Arab, but after the mid-1930s, until its transformation into the
IFA, its membership became largely Jewish with only minor Arab membership.
1931–1998: Arab representation and first tournaments The Arab Palestinian Sports Federation (APSF) was born in April 1931 due to the belief that the PFA did not represent Arab interests. A Palestinian national team played its first match against a squad from the
American University of Beirut in the same year according to
Falastin. Due to the
1936 revolt, the activities of the APSF were hampered and the federation completely disappeared toward the end of the 1930s. While the PFA was established in 1928, the first international match played by Palestine was an 8–1 defeat away to Egypt in 1953. The last game saw Palestine lose to Libya 5–2, to finish bottom of the group. At the
1965 Arab Games, Palestine were grouped with
Aden,
Iraq,
Lebanon and the
United Arab Republic. They finished second, thus advancing to the semi-finals for the first time. Palestine faced
Sudan and were beaten 2–1. In the third place play-off, Palestine met
Libya, where they lost 4–2. Palestine participated in the
1966 Arab Cup held in Iraq; they were drawn in Group B alongside Syria, Libya and North Yemen. Starting with a 0–0 draw to Libya, Palestine beat North Yemen 7–0 before losing 3–1 to Syria. They ended the tournament with four points and failed to qualify to the knock-out stages of the competition. The national team participated in the
1976 Arab Games, held in Damascus. Palestine started their campaign with two defeats to Morocco (3–0) and Saudi Arabia (3–1), before defeating Jordan (2–1). They lost to hosts Syria (2–0) in their fourth game of the tournament, drew against South Yemen (0–0), and finished with a win against Mauritania (1–0) to end the tournament in 6th place. Palestine participated in the
1992 Arab Cup held in Syria; they were drawn in Group B alongside the hosts and Saudi Arabia but were eliminated from the group stage after one draw and one loss.
1998–2014: International recognition In May 1995, the PFA was granted the status of provisional member in FIFA. Palestine eventually gained FIFA membership on 8 June 1998 after numerous attempts since 1946. In the next year, Palestine took part in the
1999 Arab Games held in Jordan. There, they won games against
Qatar and the
United Arab Emirates, drew with Libya and
Syria, while only losing to hosts
Jordan. Palestine finished in the third-place which is their best result to date. In their first ever
Asian Cup qualification, Palestine was drawn into a five-team group with Jordan, Kazakhstan,
Pakistan, and Qatar. A single victory 2–0 against Pakistan proved to be not enough to qualify as they lost 1–0 to Qatar, 5–1 to Jordan before finishing the campaign with a 2–0 defeat to Kazakhstan. Managed by Mustafa Yacoub, Palestine drew into Group C of the
2002 World Cup qualification along with
Hong Kong,
Malaysia and Qatar. The team finished in second place. In the
2002 Arab Cup, Palestine crashed out of the group stage. Under Nicola Hadwa Shahwan, the team were drawn alongside Kuwait, Qatar and Singapore. Palestine finished last with two points. After a failed Asian Cup qualifying campaign, the PFA hired Austrian coach
Alfred Riedl to lead the team during the
2006 FIFA World Cup qualification. Palestine was included in a group with Uzbekistan, Iraq and Chinese Taipei. They won both games against Chinese Taipei, drew 2–2 with Iraq, however this was insufficient for Palestine to advance beyond the second round as they lost both fixtures versus Uzbekistan 3–0 apart from a 3–0 defeat at the hands of Iraq. Palestine took part in the
inaugural AFC Challenge Cup held in Bangladesh. They were drawn alongside the host team,
Cambodia and
Guam. In the group stage, Palestine registered their biggest win ever, a 11–0 victory over Guam. Palestine advanced from
Group C and met
Kyrgyzstan in the quarter-finals. After playing a goal-lees first half, they were beaten with a last-gasp goal. In the summer of 2006, Palestine achieved its highest FIFA ranking at 115, placing them 16th in the Asian continent. Managed by
Azmi Nassar, Palestine were drawn with
China national football team, Iraq and Singapore during the
2007 Asian Cup qualification. Palestine finished in the bottom with 4 points. They achieved their only win against Singapore 1–0. In 2008, with the help of FIFA's goal program, the PFA built the
Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium, and on 26 October 2008. Palestine held a match at their home for the first time since they became a member of FIFA, a 1–1 draw with Jordan ahead of a crowd of over 7,000. Palestine entered the
first round of
2010 World Cup qualification and were eliminated after only one match that finished 4–0 for Singapore. The second leg was not played as scheduled due to the Palestinian team being barred from traveling. However, the FIFA refused to reschedule the match and Palestine forfeited the game 3–0. The
2010 AFC Challenge Cup qualifying draw put Palestine in Group C, with Afghanistan (later withdrew), Kyrgyzstan, and Nepal. They started the run with a goalless draw against hosts Nepal. The final game finished in a 1–1 draw with Kyrgyzstan to miss the chance of qualification on goal difference. Palestine drew into group C with Jordan, Libya and Sudan for the
2011 Arab Games. They lost the opening match 4–1 to Jordan in
Doha. The team improved in the second match against Libya which finished 1–1. The last game against Sudan was won by Palestine 2–0 to clinch the second-place berth in the tournament. At the semi-finals they lost 3–1 to Bahrain. The team completed their campaign with a 3–0 loss to Kuwait. During the
2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Palestine were drawn with
Afghanistan in the
first round. The first leg was won 2–0, while the second leg ended in a draw 1–1. On 3 July 2011, the first World Cup qualifying match played at home, Palestine took the lead with a long-range shot by
Houssam Wadi. Palestine reached the
second round to face
Thailand. The first match was lost 1–0 in
Buriram, while the second match resulted in Palestine's elimination. The PFA chose not to renew
Moussa Bezaz's contract after exiting the second round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying. Jamal Mahmoud, a former player and manager of
Al-Wehdat, was announced as the national team manager in November 2011, after two disastrous friendly matches, without a permanent manager saw defeats against
Indonesia and Iran 4–1 and 7–0, respectively. Palestine made history by playing and defeating their first
UEFA rival
Azerbaijan, on 2–0. The match was later registered as unofficial for unknown reasons. Mahmoud later led the team in the
2012 AFC Challenge Cup. In the run-up, Palestine finished group play at the
2012 AFC Challenge Cup without conceding a goal after 2–0 wins over Nepal and
Maldives alongside a 0–0 draw against
Turkmenistan on the way to a semifinal exit at the hands of eventual champions North Korea. The third place play-off ended in a 4–3 loss against the Philippines. During the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup qualification, Palestine drew into Group D with Bangladesh, Nepal and the
Northern Mariana Islands. They started with a hard win against Bangladesh 1–0. The next game ended in a 9–0 rout over the Northern Mariana Islands. The qualifiers finished in a goalless draw against Nepal to earn a second straight AFC Challenge Cup berth.
2014–2019: Recent success The team ended up winning the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup by drawing only one of the 5 matches without conceding a goal. In the opening match, Palestine won against Kyrgyzstan with a last-gasp goal by
Abdelhamid Abuhabib. In the next group game, they played against Myanmar and won 2–0. The ended the first round with a 0–0 draw against hosts Maldives. Palestine advanced as group winners to the semi-finals where they faced Afghanistan. The match ended in favor of the Palestinians with a 2–0 win. At the final, Palestine clinched the win over the Philippines with a lone goal scored by
Ashraf Nu'man through a free-kick. The victory gave the Palestine team their first major trophy and guaranteed their participation in the next year's
AFC Asian Cup. Following its 2014 AFC Challenge Cup win and qualification for the Asian Cup,
Jamal Mahmoud resigned as national team manager citing differences with the Palestine Football Association. Palestine was placed in
Group D along with
Japan, Jordan and Iraq in the
2015 AFC Asian Cup having lost all three group matches. They started their campaign with a 0–4 defeat by Japan. In the second game Palestine were beaten 1–5, with the opposing team ending the first half with a 3 goals lead. In the second half, Palestine scored their first ever Asian Cup goal by
Jaka Ihbeisheh six minutes before the end. However, at this point they were eliminated. The participation ended with a 0–2 defeat to Iraq. After a disastrous performance in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, the PFA appointed Olympic team manager
Abdel Nasser Barakat as national team manager, who then decided not to pick several veteran players as the team moved to overhaul. Palestine registered two 6–0 wins over Malaysia during
2018 World Cup qualifying. Those results, combined with a 0–0 draw at home to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, placed Palestine close to qualification for the third round of Asian World Cup qualifiers. They were eliminated from the qualification following a 2–0 defeat to the UAE on 24 March 2016. They won their final FIFA World Cup qualification match at home 7–0 against
Timor-Leste, five days later. Although eliminated from the World Cup, Palestine advanced to the third round of the
2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification. Drawn with Oman, the Maldives and Bhutan, Palestine came second in the group with five wins and one defeat, and qualified to the
2019 AFC Asian Cup for the first time through regular qualification. Between February and March 2018, Palestine reached their best ever FIFA ranking of 73rd, thanks to an unprecedented 12-match unbeaten streak (between 29 March 2016 and 22 March 2018), winning eight and drawing four. In February 2018, Palestine achieved their best-ever FIFA ranking (73rd). The hiring was widely criticized by Palestinian fans. On 22 April 2018, the PFA appointed
Noureddine Ould Ali as head coach to lead the team in the next period. Palestine was crowned champion of the
2018 Bangabandhu Cup as an invited country to the tournament. In the road to the final, they topped their group with 6 points, defeating
Tajikistan 2–0 before winning against Nepal 1–0 with a
Khaled Salem header. In the semi-final Palestine knocked out Bangladesh 2–0 with the goals coming in each half. At the final, Palestine played Tajikistan for the second time. The match ended 0–0 in regular time, to be decided in a penalty shoot-out which Palestine won 4–3. (right) against Syria at the
2019 Asian Cup|alt=|leftDrawn with Australia, Syria and Jordan, Palestine started their 2019 AFC Asian Cup campaign on 6 January 2019 with a 0–0 draw to Syria. Five days later, Palestine faced title-holders Australia; a header by
Jamie Maclaren and a goal by
Awer Mabil sent Palestine trailing 2–0 at half-time. Australia sealed the win with a 90th-minute header from
Apostolos Giannou. On 15 January 2019, Palestine headed into their last group-stage match needing all three points against Jordan, and hoping for a Syria win against Australia. In the 17th minute, Palestine came close to scoring when
Amer Shafi produced a fingertip save to keep out
Abdelatif Bahdari. In the second half,
Oday Dabbagh failed to score from two headers, and the match ended in a 0–0 draw.
2019–2023: Decline and managerial instability Between July and August 2019, Palestine participated in the
2019 WAFF Championship; they were drawn with hosts
Iraq,
Syria, Lebanon, and
Yemen. Palestine ended the tournament with two wins, one draw and one defeat, and finished in second place in their group: however, this wasn't enough to reach the final. Palestine were drawn with Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Uzbekistan, Yemen at the
2022 World Cup qualification. They kicked-off with a historic win over Uzbekistan 2–0 in
Al-Ram. Five days later, Palestine were defeated 2–1 to Singapore. On 15 October 2019, Palestine drew 0–0 with Saudi Arabia, during which its decades-long boycott of play in the West Bank came to an end in protest against Israel's control over Palestinian territories. Thereafter, the team lost again to Yemen 1–0. This was later followed with another away loss to Uzbekistan, thus placing Palestine in the bottom and reducing the country's opportunity to reach the final round. Manager Noureddine Ould Ali lost his job after 2022 World Cup qualification resumed in 2021 following a 5–0 loss to Saudi Arabia. In April 2021, Tunisian coach
Makram Daboub, who had previously worked as a goalkeeping coach under the leadership of Noureddine Ould Ali, who was dismissed, was assigned to supervise the national team on a temporary basis. Daboub led Palestine to victory over Singapore and Yemen. In June 2022, Palestine qualified for their third straight
AFC Asian Cup finals, winning all three games against Mongolia, Yemen and Philippines.
2024–present: Revival and history made On 23 January 2024, Palestine recorded their first ever
Asian Cup victory and their first ever qualification to the Asian Cup knockout stage after a 3–0 victory over
Hong Kong in the
2023 AFC Asian Cup. They ended up losing 1–2 to the hosts
Qatar in the quarterfinal despite taking the lead through
Oday Dabbagh's goal in the 37th minute. On 7 June 2024, Palestine qualified to the
Third Round of FIFA World Cup qualification for the first time after a 0–0 draw against
Lebanon, securing second place in their
qualification group behind
Australia. This result also saw them qualify for the
2027 AFC Asian Cup, their fourth consecutive qualification to the tournament. Palestine then recorded their first ever qualification to the
Arab Cup knockout stage in
2025 but they lost the quarterfinal 2–1 against
Saudi Arabia on 11 December 2025. == Problems relating to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict ==