Another Take: Palestinian joy at the AFC Asian Cup
The Take
Al Jazeera
4.7 • 747 Ratings
🗓️ 13 December 2025
⏱️ 16 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Every Saturday, we revisit a story from the archives. This originally aired on January 18, 2024. None of the dates, titles, or other references from that time have been changed.
The Palestinian national football team is at the AFC Asian Cup happening right now in Qatar. They played the United Arab Emirates today and played Iran on Sunday, where Palestinian pride echoed throughout the stadium. We head to the pitch for a look at the team’s challenges and achievements as the cup goes on.
In this episode:
- Abdullah Al-Arian, Georgetown University Associate Professor of History, School of Foreign Service in Qatar
Episode credits:
This episode was updated by Tracie Hunte. This episode was produced by Khaled Soltan and Chloe K. Li with our host Kevin Hirten. Miranda Lin fact-checked this episode.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our lead of audience development and engagement is Aya Elmileik and Adam Abou-Gad is our engagement producer.
Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer, and Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Al Jazeera Podcasts. |
| 0:07.0 | Hi, I'm Tracy Hunt, a producer with a take, coming to you with another take, where we bring back stories from the archives. |
| 0:20.0 | Palestine's epic run at the FIFA Arab Cup came to an end this week, |
| 0:24.7 | after falling to Saudi Arabia 2-1. |
| 0:28.0 | It was the team's first time reaching the quarterfinals, |
| 0:31.1 | with supporters around the world rooting for them. |
| 0:34.1 | Back in 2024, we reported on the last time the Palestinian football team made waves, |
| 0:39.9 | the AFC Asia Cup in Qatar, where the joy of fans gave a moment of relief during Israel's war on Gaza. |
| 0:47.8 | That original episode aired January 18, 2024. |
| 0:51.9 | All dates and references are from that time. |
| 1:09.7 | Five, four, three, two, one. |
| 1:16.6 | A crowd waving Palestinian flags erupts into cheers. |
| 1:22.6 | A sight seen at massive protests around the world, now in the stands of a football stadium. |
| 1:31.8 | Sunday was the first football match Palestine played in the AFC Asian Cup, going on now in |
| 1:37.2 | Qatar. |
| 1:38.2 | They played Iran, one of the highest ranked Asian teams and currently number 21 in the world. But for the Palestinian national team, even playing is rare. |
| 1:48.0 | And for them, this moment is much bigger than football. |
| 1:52.0 | What the Palestinian football team is able to do in this moment on a global stage |
| 1:58.0 | that is allowing them to raise awareness. |
| 2:06.8 | This is an opportunity to keep Palestine in the hearts and minds of millions of supporters all over the world. |
| 2:09.3 | Palestine plays its next match today, Thursday, against the United Arab Emirates. |
| 2:14.3 | But for now, let's focus on their first match. |
... |
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