White Wolves start their Asian Qualifiers campaign with Palestine clash in Ramallah

Palestine, Uzbekistan, Yemen and Saudi Arabia were all part of the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Finals, promising a highly competitive and exciting Group D.

PALESTINE vs UZBEKISTAN

Palestine's second successive appearance at the AFC Asian Cup Finals ended in the group stage and the West Asians will be aiming to be third time lucky in China 2023.

The road, ahead, however, is paved with challenges and Palestine will need to make their home ground advantage count when they open against Uzbekistan at the West Bank's Faisal Al Husseini Stadium.

Palestine will head into the Asian Qualifiers following a relatively successful 2019 WAFF Championship campaign where Noureddine Ould Ali's team finished second behind Iraq in Group A.

Although they failed to advance to the final, Palestine ended their campaign with wins over Yemen and Syria, a draw with Lebanon and narrow 2-1 loss to eventual runners-up Iraq.

It is the kind of form they will need in a tough Group D but Algerian Ould Ali will be confident he has built a squad capable of sealing a place in the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 and possibly, a place in the next stage of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

Uzbekistan will also be up to the task, having narrowly missed out on the 2018 FIFA World Cup and suffering a heartbreaking penalty shootout defeat to Australia in the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019.

Uzbekistan may be playing away but head coach Hector Cuper has targeted a winning start as three points will set his side up nicely for the challenges ahead.

PALESTINE vs UZBEKISTAN

Venue: Faisal Al Husseini Stadium, West Bank

Kick-off: 1700 hours (UTC +3)