Palestine’s historic run at the the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2025 is over after a 2-1 defeat after extra time by Saudi Arabia in the quarterfinals at Lusail Stadium.
Mohamed Kanno’s stooping header settled matters in the 115th minute of Thursday’s match, which was level at 1-1 after normal time.
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Firas Al-Buraikan had given the Saudis a 58th-minute lead from the penalty spot, but Palestine – who earlier this year reached the AFC Asian Cup knockout stages for the first time – levelled six minutes later through Oday Dabbagh.
Jordan or Iraq, who play on Friday, await the Saudis in Monday’s semifinals.
In a tight first half, only one side managed a shot on target, a reflection of Saudi’s share of the play, which included four efforts off target compared with Palestine’s one.
It came when Salem Al-Dawsari very nearly provided the spark to open up the Palestine defence. The Saudi forward burst into the box via the inside right channel and squared his cross-come-shot that was only palmed away by Rami Hamada, who dived off his line but could only tip the ball towards the onrushing group of players.
Al Buraikan, Al-Dawsari’s strike partner, looked certain for a simple tap-in to break the deadlock, but was denied at the last moment by a toe poke from Hamed Hamdan to concede a corner.
Hamdan himself had been the closest to the target prior to that, with a drive from the edge of the box, but the effort continued to climb over the bar.
The breakthrough came after Al-Dawsari burst into the box from the left with a fine run only to be tripped by Mohammed Saleh before he could unleash a shot.
Al-Buraikan made no mistake from the resulting kick, sending the keeper the wrong way with a slotted, left-footed effort.
The reply did not take long, however, as Dabbagh produced a moment of brilliance to control a deep ball in from the right flank with his left foot.
The Palestinian striker then unleashed a drilled shot with his right in virtually the same movement, which left the keeper with no chance.
Ali Majrashi came closest to restoring the Saudi lead, as the right back’s fierce strike from outside the box clipped the top of the bar.
Palestine’s hearts were in their mouths once more, when Kanno slotted home in injury time, only to see the offside flag raised.
Although matters nearly were far worse when a penalty was awarded against Saleh for the second time in the match. After a VAR intervention, the on-field decision of handball was overruled as the defender’s slide to block the ball, which resulted in his arm being struck, was deemed accidental.
The second half, and extra time, were as nervy as the first half was tight, but a first appearance in the last four proved too great a feat for Palestine. Kanno’s header in extra time ended Palestine’s historic run, although Dabbagh spurned a wonderful chance on the volley in the closing seconds that could have taken the tie to penalties.
Earlier in the day, 10-man Morocco reached the last four as Walid Azaro’s 79th-minute strike was enough for his side to secure a 1-0 win against Syria.
