Palestine have already made history by reaching this stage for the first time, having seen their journey ended in the second round on four previous occasions.

“For us, reaching this stage is (already) an achievement, but the mission (to qualify directly) is very difficult, especially with the situation in Palestine,” Daboub told the-AFC.com.

Despite the extreme challenges, Palestine have recorded impressive results of late and their maiden third-round qualification comes off the back of a historic AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ campaign, where they notched their first ever tournament victory and reached the last eight.

And Daboub, who has been at the helm since April 2021, asserted that Palestine will take the fight to the rest of their Group B opponents, with two more FIFA World Cup slots available via the AFC Asian Qualifiers™ – Road to 26 Playoff. 

That will see the third and fourth-placed teams from each of the three groups - six in total - being split into two groups for a fourth qualification round, with the two group winners taking the seventh and eighth berths on offer to the AFC.

“I think the draw was difficult, as the journey will be for (the next) 10 months,” he said. “But we have a chance and our target is to be among the top four teams in the group, and we hope that the players will be (able to live) up to the expectations.”