Palestine 0-1 Australia: Leicester's Harry Souttar scores winner as thousands of fans attend
- Published
Harry Souttar's goal came when he met a corner and headed home
Leicester defender Harry Souttar scored the only goal as Australia beat the Palestine national team in front of thousands of fans in a World Cup qualifier.
The match was Palestine's second since the start of the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Australia's players are making a five-figure donation from their match fees to humanitarian efforts in Gaza, which will be matched by Football Australia.
Coach Graham Arnold said preparations had been "quite stressful" as the game had moved from the West Bank to Kuwait.
Israel launched a major military campaign in Gaza in response to a cross-border attack by hundreds of Hamas gunmen on 7 October, in which at least 1,200 people were killed and about 240 others taken hostage. Gaza's health ministry says more than 14,000 people have been killed in the territory since Israel launched its retaliatory campaign against Hamas.
Palestine were without defender Ibrahim Abuimeir, Ahmed Kullab and Khaled Al-Nabris, with all three stuck in Gaza.
The match was attended by 14,537 fans, with those supporting Palestine waving flags throughout and holding up posters saying "free Gaza".
The last time Palestine played at home was against Saudi Arabia in 2019.
Ranked 96th in the world, they are currently third in their World Cup qualifying group, while Australia are top after successive wins.
Thousands of Palestine fans were at the game
The Palestine players each wore a keffiyeh as they walked out onto the pitch and during the team photo