Palestine Official Games 1934-1948


Until the establishment of the state of Israel, on 14/5/1948, its national team played 5 international games under the name of Palestine. These games are recognized by IFA and FIFA as official games.
Note that also the Palestinian FA recognizes these games as their 5 first internationals. However the national anthem that was played before the games was the Jewish one (later Israel national anthem). All the players of Palestine in these games were Jewish (as the Arabs refused to participate in a joint team with the Jews) so this decision of the Palestinian FA looks little strange...

1. World Cup 1934 Qualifying (Group 12)

Egypt - Palestine 7-1

Date: 16/3/1934
Venue: British Army Ground, Cairo, Egypt
Attendance: 13000
Referee: Stanley Wells (England)

Egypt

Line-up: Mostafa Kamel Mansour - Ali Mohamed El Said El Kaf, Abdel Hamid Ibrahim Sharli - Hassan Ahmed El Far, Hassan Raghab, Amin Sabri - Mohamed Latif, Mostafa Kamel Taha, Abdel Rahman Fawzi, Mahmoud Mokhtar Rifai "El Tech", Gamil El Zoubeir
Goals: Mahmoud Mokhtar Rifai (11, 35, 51), Mostafa Kamel Taha (21, 79), Mohamed Latif (43, 87)
Coach: James McRea (Scotland)

Palestine

Line-up: Willi Berger - Avraham Reznik, Pinhas Fiedler - Zalman Friedmann "Dzampa", Gdalyahu Fuchs, Yohanan Sukenik - Amnon Harlap, Peri Kraus, Paul Kastenbaum, Haim Reich, Avraham Nudelmann
Goals: Avraham Nudelmann
Coach: Shimon Ratner "Lumek"


2. World Cup 1934 Qualifying (Group 12)

Palestine - Egypt 1-4

Date: 6/4/1934
Venue: Hapoel Ground, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Attendance: 8000
Referee: Frederick John Goodsby (England)

Palestine

Line-up: Willi Berger - Pinhas Fiedler, David Weinberg - Zalman Friedmann "Dzampa", Gdalyahu Fuchs, Yohanan Sukenik - Meir Levi, Amnon Harlap, Yaacov Zalivansky, Haim Reich, Avraham Nudelmann
Goals: Yohanan Sukenik (70)
Coach: Shimon Ratner "Lumek"

Egypt

Line-up: Aziz Fahmy - Ali Mohamed El Said El Kaf, Abdel Hamid Ibrahim Sharli - Hassan Ahmed El Far, Hassan Raghab, Mohamed Farid Bakhati - Mohamed Latif, Mostafa Kamel Taha, Abdel Rahman Fawzi, Mahmoud Mokhtar Rifai "El Tech", Mahmoud Hani Labib
Goals: Mahmoud Mokhtar Rifai (23, 41), Mohamed Latif (31), Abdel Rahman Fawzi (45)
Coach: James McRea (Scotland)

Note: An Egyptian player was injured during the second half and Egypt continued to play with 10 men.


3. World Cup 1938 Qualifying (Group 6 - First Round)

Palestine - Greece 1-3

Date: 22/1/1938
Venue: Maccabi Ground, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Attendance: 8000
Referee: Yussef Effendi Mohammed (Egypt)

Palestine

Line-up: Julius Klein - Avraham Beit-Halevi, Avner Protopopov (Yohanan Sukenik, 46) - Yosef Libermann, Gdalyahu Fuchs, Menahem Mirmovich - Avraham Nudelmann, Gaul Machlis, Peri Neufeld, Shuka Brashadski, Mila Ginzburg
Goals: Peri Neufeld (21)
Coach: Egon Pollak

Greece

Line-up: Spiridon Sklavounos - Georgios Gasparis, Georgios Papadopoulos - Anastasios Kritikos, Antonios Kasimatis (Spiridon Kontoulis, 46), Konstantinos Gikas - Antonios Migiakis, Dimitrios Baldasis, Kleanthis Vikelides, Kleanthis Maropoulos, Theologos Simeonidis
Goals: Kleanthis Vikelides (3, 10), Antonios Migiakis (51)
Coach: Konstantinos Negrepontis


4. World Cup 1938 Qualifying (Group 6 - First Round)

Greece - Palestine 1-0

Date: 20/2/1938
Venue: Panathinaikos Stadium, Athens, Greece
Attendance: 12000
Referee: Mika Popović (Yugoslavia)

Greece

Line-up: Spiridon Sklavounos (Nikolaos Sotiriadis, 15) - Georgios Gasparis, Georgios Papadopoulos - Anastasios Kritikos, Spiridon Kontoulis, Konstantinos Gikas - Antonios Migiakis, Spiridon Depountis, Kleanthis Vikelides, Kleanthis Maropoulos, Vasilios Manetas-Lappas
Goals: Kleanthis Vikelides (89)
Coach: Konstantinos Negrepontis

Palestine

Line-up: Israel Elsner - Avraham Reznik, Avraham Beit-Halevi - Yosef Libermann, Gdalyahu Fuchs, Menahem Mirmovich - Yona Stern, Moshe "Jeri" Beit-Halevi, Peri Neufeld, Gaul Machlis, Natan Pantz
Goals: -
Coach: Egon Pollak*

* Egon Pollak didn't attend the game and was replaced by Itzhak Halutz.


5. Friendly

Palestine - Lebanon 5-1

Date: 27/4/1940
Venue: Maccabia Stadium, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Attendance: 9000
Referee: Blackwell (England)

Palestine

Line-up: Binyamin Mizrahi - Yaacov Breir, Shalom Shlomzon - Zalman Friedmann "Dzampa", Zvi Fuchs (Lonia Dvorin, 46), Haim Reich - Herbert Meitner, Zvi Erlich, Werner Kaspi, Avraham Schneiderovitz, Gaul Machlis
Goals: Herbert Meitner (2), Avraham Schneiderovitz (11 pen), Gaul Machlis (32), Werner Kaspi (40, 60)
Coach: Arthur Baar

Lebanon

Line-up: Nazam Sayad - Yeguiché, Sacre - Guiragos, Barbir, Falah - Jaroudi, Nercesse, Kamil, Oxen, Jerard
Goals: Kamil (49)
Coach: N/A

About this document

Prepared and maintained by Jean-Michel Cazal and Yaniv Bleicher for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation

Authors: Jean-Michel Cazal (Jean-Michel.Cazal@wanadoo.fr) and Yaniv Bleicher (yanivbl@hotmail.com)
Last updated: 20 Apr 2008

(C) Copyright Jean-Michel Cazal, Yaniv Bleicher and RSSSF 2001/2008
You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All rights reserved.