Palestine secured essentially the most dramatic of late victories over Iraq on Tuesday night to maintain their unlikely World Cup dream alive.
The match on the Amman International Stadium in Jordan looked set to be won by Iraq as Aymen Hussein’s first-half goal still had them ahead because the clocked ticked towards 90 minutes.
Then got here a late equaliser from Wessam Abou Ali for the Palestinians on 88 minutes and an excellent later winner.
Defender Amid Mahajna outmuscled his marker from a corner and powered a header past the goalkeeper deep into injury time.
The goal went down as a 97th-minute winner and secured a hugely dramatic victory for Ehab Abu Jazar’s team.
It was the primary win of the present round of AFC World Cup qualifying for Palestine, but their hopes of qualification are still alive.
Three draws and this one victory in eight matches means they’re still in contention for a top 4 finish in Group B.
The highest two nations from the remaining six groups make it to World Cup 2026 robotically, while the third and fourth place teams head right into a play-off.
Palestine are fifth with two games to play, those remaining matches are available June against Kuwait and Oman.
Kuwait sit bottom of Group B with Oman holding onto fourth place, which the Palestinians try to pay money for.
The win on Tuesday night is Palestine’s first for nearly exactly a 12 months, once they beat Bangladesh 1-0 on March 26, 2024.
Back-to-back wins over Bangladesh and two draws with Lebanon got Palestine through the previous group to book their spot on this third round of qualifying.
Two teams have already guaranteed their spot on the 2026 World Cup through AFC qualifying, with Iran coming through Group A and Japan from Group C.
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