FIFA help us: Palestine FA begs world football body after crashing out of WCQ

The Palestine Football Association (PFA) has begged world football's governing body, FIFA after they crashed out of the World Cup qualifiers.

The FA lodged a formal complaint with FIFA, and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), after a contentious late penalty decision effectively ended their hopes of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The incident occurred during their important qualifier against Oman on Tuesday, a match that saw Palestine's World Cup dream agonisingly slip away in the dying moments.

Palestine was leading 1-0 in the tense encounter when, in the seventh minute of injury time, Iranian referee Mooud Bonyadifard awarded Oman a penalty.

Issam Al Sabhi duly converted from the spot, levelling the score at 1-1. This result was sufficient to send Oman through to the next phase of qualification, while knocking Palestine out of contention for the expanded 48-nation tournament to be held in Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

In their official statement via BBC, the PFA expressed their frustration and begged the world football governing body to go through the call.

"Following a thorough review of the official match footage, and various replays shared across media platforms and social networks, it has become evident the penalty decision lacked the necessary refereeing criteria and did not meet the technical standards required to justify such a call. This decision was clearly unfair to our national team,” the statement read.

The complaint calls for a comprehensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding this incident and a review of all related refereeing procedures.

"This step aims to uphold sporting justice and ensure the integrity of international competition," the PFA emphasised.

Neither Palestine nor Oman has ever qualified for a World Cup.

Meanwhile, Oman's journey continues. They will now compete in a three-nation group in October as part of the next phase of Asian World Cup qualifiers.

They are set to face two teams from a strong pool that includes Indonesia, Iraq, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Should Oman emerge victorious from their section, they will secure a coveted spot at the 2026 World Cup.