November 20 – Australia’s men’s team are to donate part of the match fee from their World Cup qualifier against Palestine to humanitarian efforts in Gaza.
The five-figure donation by the players will be matched by Football Australia.
Asian nations are in the first group round of 2026 World Cup qualifying which sees 36 teams divided into nine groups of four teams.
The nine group winners and group runners-up advance to the third round (3 groups of 6) as well as automatically qualifying for the AFC Asian Cup 2027. AFC teams have been allocated eight direct qualifying slots for the World Cup 2026, and one inter-confederation play-off slot.
In their opening game Palestine drew 0-0 with Lebanon in a game hosted in Sharjah, UAE. Australia opened their 2026 qualifying campaign with a 7-0 win over Bangladesh.
Their game against Palestine on Tuesday (November 21) was initially scheduled to be played in the West Bank before the conflict between Hamas and Israel erupted. It will now be played in Kuwait.
More than 1,200 people were killed in a series of attacks launched by Hamas in Israel with about 240 people taken as hostages. Israel’s response has led to more than 12,000 civilian deaths in Gaza and over 1 million of the 2.2 million Gaza population displaced.
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