Palestine World Cup dream ends after late penalty heartbreak against Oman

Palestine are denied by late Oman penalty in a 1-1 draw that ends their dreams of a first FIFA World Cup appearance.

Palestine’s historic Asian Football Confederation (AFC) qualifying campaign for the 2026 FIFA World Cup was ended by a late Oman penalty in a 1-1 draw in their final group game.

Needing a win to reach the fourth round of the AFC qualifiers, Palestine led deep into five minutes of injury time through Oday Kharoub’s goal early in the second half.

The scoreline would have been enough to propel Palestine past Oman into the fourth and final qualifying spot in Group B of the third round of the AFC qualifiers – a stage they had also reached for the first time.

However, a tug of the shirt on a runner chasing a free kick from the deep was spotted by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), and Palestine’s dream of a first appearance at a football World Cup ended with Essam Al-Subhi’s spot kick in the 97th minute of the match.