SINGAPORE: Thursday’s 0-0 draw with Lebanon gave the Palestinian team its first-ever trip to the World Cup qualifying round.
With one game remaining, the squad, which played in Qatar due to security concerns in Gaza, leads its group by five points and is currently sitting second in its group. The top two teams from each of the nine groups advance to the 2026 World Cup final qualifying phase.
In other news, China still has work to do following a 1-1 draw with Thailand, as South Korea advanced to the final round of the World Cup with a 7-0 victory against Singapore, led by two goals from Son Heung-min.
With 13 points from five games, South Korea maintained its lead in Group C, followed by China with 8 points. With one round remaining, Thailand trails by three points in third place.
China’s final match is against South Korea, while Thailand is hosting Singapore in Bangkok and can still secure second place with a victory over China in the event that China loses.
At Singapore National Stadium, which was packed out, it took just nine minutes for Lee Kang-in to open the score. The Paris Saint-Germain midfielder fired home from inside the box. Not too long after, Joo Min-gyu added another.
After that, Son scored twice more in the second half, followed by goals from Lee and Bae Joon-ho in the closing moments.
Son remarked, “When you look at the results, everyone will probably say the Singapore team was really poor, but that wasn’t the case.” “We were more clinical and we took the risks really well, and they fought.”
In Shenyang, China trailed after 20 minutes due to a goal from Supachok Sarachat. Early in the second half, Ferdandinho of China missed a penalty kick; however, with 11 minutes left, Baihelamu Abuduwaili tied the score for the home team.
Iraq, Australia, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates were the four nations that had already qualified and kept their flawless records.
Ajdin Hrustic and Kusini Yengi scored goals for Australia in a 2-0 victory over Bangladesh in Dhaka.
In Yangon, Japan defeated Myanmar 5-0, with two goals apiece from Keito Nakamura and Koki Ogawa. Iraq triumphed over Indonesia 2-0, while the UAE overcame Nepal 4-0.
Iran, who had already qualified, won 4-2 in Hong Kong behind a hat-trick from Mehdi Taremi, who is leaving Porto in July to join Inter Milan.
Both Oman and Saudi Arabia advanced after victories against Taiwan and Pakistan, 3-0.
India and Afghanistan both have five points after goalless draws with Kuwait and Qatar, respectively, have put them in the running for second place in Group A.
Elsewhere, Vietnam and North Korea stayed in contention to advance to the next round with victories over Philippines and Syria, respectively.