This year’s World Cup has become a prominent arena for expressing solidarity with the Palestinian cause, despite the Palestinian national team not participating in the competition, and in light of what observers describe as increasing crackdowns on protests and expressions of solidarity with Palestine in a number of countries.
In an article published on the Foreign Policy In Focus website on July 14, 2026, American writer David Vine argues that the displays of support for Palestinians witnessed during the tournament represent one of the most inspiring scenes in the tournament's history, especially as they came at a time when the war in the Gaza Strip was still casting a shadow over global public opinion.
Fine notes that fans, players, and coaches from several countries, including Egypt, Scotland, Brazil, South Korea, Morocco, Mexico, Turkey, Norway, Senegal, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Algeria, and Spain—and perhaps from all 48 participating teams—publicly expressed their support for the Palestinians, affirming their right to life, liberty, and return.
According to the article, the displays of solidarity were not limited to the fans, but extended to the stadiums themselves, where Palestinian flags were raised in the stands and carried by players and coaches during the matches. Chants of "Free Palestine" echoed inside the stadiums and in the surrounding streets, while thousands of fans attended wearing Palestinian national team jerseys.
Followers also raised banners that read “Expel Israel from FIFA” and “Red card for Israel,” referring to the demand for the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) to take action against Israel, inspired by the red card which means expelling a player from the match and preventing him from continuing to play because of a serious violation.
Fine argues that this incident gained added significance because it occurred during a tournament that, like previous ones, was not immune to accusations of corruption. He points out that, according to the article, US President Donald Trump intervened with the FIFA president to overturn a red card shown to an American player, allowing him to participate with his national team, which subsequently lost a match the author describes as one-sided.
The article also discusses FIFA President Trump being awarded a symbolic “peace prize” shortly before the United States joined Israel in the war on Iran, a war the writer describes as illegal and historically unpopular.
Fine asserts that raising Palestinian flags or chanting slogans inside stadiums does not, on its own, change the reality on the ground, but he points out that the days of the tournament itself witnessed the continuation of Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip, which he says resulted in the killing of dozens of Palestinians, amid continued American military support for Israel.
The writer cites as an example the killing of Mohammed al-Wahidi, a representative of an Egyptian humanitarian organization working in Gaza, along with two children and another person, before a match between Argentina and Egypt on the same day he was organizing a viewing event in Gaza City. The article notes that al-Wahidi is one of more than a thousand Palestinians, including hundreds of women and children, reportedly killed by the Israeli army since the official ceasefire was declared last year.
Fine quotes Palestinian journalist Dina Al-Kurd as saying that sports tournaments alone cannot end the suffering of the Palestinians, explaining that Palestinian families will not regain their homes because people raised a flag in a stadium. However, she believes that popular movements are formed over time, through moments of public appearance, the accumulation of pressures, and the insistence on keeping the issue present in global consciousness and not allowing it to be forgotten.
The writer focuses on the stance of Egyptian national team coach Hossam Hassan , whom he describes as one of the most outspoken and consistent figures in sports in expressing his solidarity with the Palestinians. In a press conference, Hassan stated that before being Arab, Muslim, Christian, or anything else, he is a human being. He added that he wants to use football, as the world's greatest soft power, to send a message demanding that the Palestinian people be allowed to live in peace, calling on athletes and journalists worldwide to help spread this message.
Fine concludes by questioning whether this message deserves to be the focus of discussion in match-watching sessions, in cafes, and among family members during the final stages of the World Cup and beyond, considering that the tournament provided an opportunity to highlight the Palestinian cause to a wide global audience.
The writer indicates that he will personally express his solidarity by wearing a shirt bearing the colors of Palestine, and by using the tournament matches to collect donations for humanitarian relief in the Gaza Strip, considering that opening a discussion about the morality of continued US military support for the Israeli government represents a first step on a broader path.
Fine concludes his article by quoting Palestinian journalist Dina Al-Kurd, who said she felt a kind of hope when she saw Palestinian flags waving in the World Cup stadiums, explaining that this hope is not in expecting a solution soon or easily, but in the feeling that the Palestinians are not alone, and that their cause is still present and has not been forgotten.
