Palestine 2023 AFC Asian Cup Squad

Palestine 2023 AFC Asian Cup Squad

Head Coach: Makram Daboub

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of Birth/Age	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Amr Kaddoura	1 July 1994 (age 29)	3	0	Landskrona BoIS
16	GK	Naim Abuaker	20 January 1995 (age 28)	1	0	Shabab Al-Dhahiriya
22	GK	Rami Hamadeh	24 March 1994 (age 28)	42	0	Jabal Al Mukaber
26	GK	Baraa Kharoub	20 March 1998 (age 25)	0	0	Markaz Balata
2	DF	Mohammed Khalil	5 April 1998 (age 25)	12	0	Hilal Al-Quds
4	DF	Yaser Hamed	9 December 1997 (age 26)	26	5	North East United
5	DF	Mohammed Saleh	18 July 1993 (age 30)	26	0	Al-Ittihad Alexandria
7	DF	Musab Al-Battat (captain)	12 November 1993 (age 30)	56	1	Shabab Al-Dhahiriya
12	DF	Camilo Saldana	13 July 1999 (age 24)	4	0	Union San Felipe
15	DF	Michel Termanini	8 May 1988 (age 25)	9	1	Kazma
17	DF	Mousa Farawi	22 March 1998 (age 25)	14	0	Hilal Al-Quds
18	DF	Amid Mahajna	11 November 1996 (age 27)	1	0	Hapoel Umm al-Fahm
24	DF	Mahdi Issa	3 November 1998 (age 25)	0	0	Jabal Al-Mukaber
25	DF	Samer Jundi	27 September 1996 (age 27)	7	0	Hilal Al-Quds
3	MF	Mohammed Rashid	29 January 1995 (age 28)	36	2	Bali United
6	MF	Oday Kharoub	5 February 1993 (age 30)	23	0	Hilal Al-Quds
9	MF	Tamer Seyam	25 November 1992 (age 31)	59	12	PT Prachuap
10	MF	Mahmoud Abu Warda	31 May 1995 (age 28)	29	3	Markaz Balata
14	MF	Samer Zubaida	26 April 2001 (age 22)	0	0	Hilal Al-Quds
21	MF	Islam Batran	1 October 1994 (age 29)	27	5	Hilal Al-Quds
23	MF	Ataa Jaber	3 October 1994 (age 29)	6	0	Neftchi Baku
8	FW	Alaa Aldeen Hassan	31 January 2000 (age 23)	2	0	Bnei Sakhnin
11	FW	Oday Dabbagh	3 December 1998 (age 25)	30	10	Charleroi
13	FW	Shehab Qunbar	10 August 1997 (age 26)	1	0	Jabal Al-Mukaber
19	FW	Mahmoud Wadi	19 December 1994 (age 29)	20	0	Al-Mokawloon Al-Arab
20	FW	Zaid Qunbar	4 September 2002 (age 21)	2	0	Jabal Al-Mukaber

Most Capped Player: Abdelatif Bahdari – 79
Top Goalscorer: Fahed Atal & Ashraf Nu’man – 14

Palestine 2023 Asian Cup Preview

Prior to 2015, Palestine had never qualified for the AFC Asian Cup, however after qualifying back-to-back-to-back in 2015, 2019 and 2023 – they head to Qatar for their third appearance at the tournament’s finals.

Makram Daboub’s side ended their third round qualifying campaign at the top of their group by a comfortable five points, securing qualification to the finals with a perfect record against the Philippines, Mongolia and Yemen.

The Palestinians were allocated a position in ‘Pot 3’ due to their 93rd position in the FIFA World Rankings back in April, and were subsequently drawn into Group C alongside Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong.

Their campaign starts on 14 January against Iran in Al Rayyan, followed by a trip to Al Wakrah to take on the United Arab Emirates on 18 January, before rounding off their group stage action in Doha against Hong Kong five days later.

Palestine Player To Watch

There is one clear standout figure as the player to watch within the Palestine squad, and that is Oday Dabbagh. The striker plays at a higher domestic level than any of the other 25 players within Daboub’s squad, as he is currently contracted to Belgian Pro League side RC Sporting Charleroi.

Charleroi are currently in a relegation battle, so they’ll miss Dabbagh dearly, however the opportunity to represent his country at a major international tournament takes precedent over any club duties.

Dabbagh has five goals and two assists in 19 appearances for the Belgian outfit this term, giving a decent account of himself since arriving from Portuguese side Arouca in the summer.

At just 25-years-old, he is the second highest scorer within the Palestinian squad with 10 goals and is just four goals shy of the all-time record. The forward is almost certain to lead the line for his country, and we expect that he’ll have a major role to play in any success that his side has at the tournament.