The world is celebrating. In Gaza, they are just trying to survive, but somehow, they are still playing football.
As the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off across North America, a profoundly moving story is emerging from the ruins of Gaza. In what remains of the Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, a group of young men are training on crutches and prosthetic limbs, members of Gaza Al-Irada, a football club made up entirely of amputee players. Their presence on a damaged pitch, while billions watch the World Cup on television, captures the full weight of what war takes from people.
The Story of Ali Tafesh
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Ali Tafesh is 24 years old. Four years ago, he was watching the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with friends at a cafe in Gaza, surrounded by the kind of ordinary joy that football brings. Then the war came. In February 2024, his family home was struck. His mother and brother were killed. Doctors amputated one of his legs.
Today, Ali trains with Gaza Al-Irada on one of the last usable sports spaces in Gaza. He holds on to football, he says, as a means of survival more than a sport. Furthermore, the club has become a symbol, not just of resilience, but of the human need to find meaning and movement even in the worst circumstances.
What the War Has Done to Palestinian Football
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The war on Gaza has killed nearly 73,000 Palestinians according to reporting by Al Jazeera. All sports infrastructure has been destroyed, stadiums, club facilities, training grounds. The national league was suspended. Tens of players have been killed. As a result, the Palestinian Football Association has been unable to bring any athletes from Gaza to national team activities.
FIFA has been criticised for what Palestinian officials describe as a failure to deliver on promises made to support Palestinian football. PFA President Jibril Rajoub has spoken of a situation where everything is paralysed, not just by the destruction, but by ongoing restrictions on movement and access.
Football as Witness
The juxtaposition is stark. Eighty thousand fans in the Azteca. Billions watching globally. And in Gaza, men on crutches passing a ball on a broken pitch. Both are football. Both are real. However, only one of them is being celebrated this week.
For Nigeria and Africa, where solidarity with Palestine has been broadly expressed, the story of Gaza Al-Irada is not just a sports story. It is a moral one. As the World Cup unfolds, it is a story worth remembering.
