Watching the World Cup from Gaza

Gaza City, the Gaza Strip – In what remains of the Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, Ali Tafesh chases the ball while leaning on his crutches, exchanging passes with his teammates from Gaza Al-Irada - the will of Gaza - a football club made up of amputee players.

The stadium is far removed from the grandiose arenas that will host the World Cup 2026 in North America beginning on Thursday. But for Ali and his teammates, it is one of the last usable sports spaces available in Gaza as a result of Israel's genocidal war, which has killed nearly 73,000 Palestinians.

The players hold on to football as a means of survival more than a sport. They are trying to reclaim fragments of their former lives despite months of loss, injuries, and widespread destruction.

Just four years ago, Ali, 24, was watching the World Cup in Qatar with friends in a cafe in Gaza, surrounded by festive scenes he still remembers clearly.

Today, however, the world is preparing for a new edition of the tournament, while he finds himself among thousands of survivors of the war who have lost limbs, including hundreds of athletes.

“[In 2022] Everyone supported a team, and the atmosphere was beautiful," Ali tells Al Jazeera. "Today, the situation in Gaza is extremely difficult. We are exposed to bombardment and death at any moment.”

In February 2024, a few months after Israel's war began, his family home in the Zeitoun neighborhood in eastern Gaza City was struck, killing his mother and brother, while doctors were forced to amputate one of his legs.

After months of painful treatment and adjustment to his disability, Ali found out about Gaza Al-Irada through friends who had previously undergone amputations. Having previously been a sprinter, participating in local championships, the law graduate was looking for another sporting avenue.

“After my leg was amputated, I lost hope in life. I was a champion. I had medals... My friends playing with Gaza Al-Irada came to visit me. I asked if I could join them, and they welcomed me,” says Ali, who began playing about six months ago.

Now, as the rest of the world's focus shifts to watching the world's best footballers compete in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, Ali feels that Gaza exists in a parallel world - cut off not only by war but also by the absence of basic sporting needs and infrastructure.

“There is no transportation. I have to walk for more than two hours on my crutches to reach the field. There are no crutches, no sports shoes, and many essential safety items are unavailable,” he adds.

“We play with the very little available and try to rebuild football with our simple means.”

Forty-year-old Saadi al-Masri's story is a bit different from that of most other Gaza Al-Irada members. Unlike many of his teammates who lost limbs during the current war, al-Masri lost his leg in a car accident when he was two years old.

As he got older, he developed a love for sport, and has spent years representing Palestine, becoming a national swimming champion and a member of the national volleyball team, as well as the national amputee football player, participating in the Asian championships.

Saadi knows what it feels like to represent your country, but now, as a result of Israeli restrictions, travel outside of the enclave is difficult, and if Palestinians from Gaza do get out, they know they may not be allowed back in again.

“Watching the World Cup is deeply painful for us,” Saadi tells Al Jazeera. “As an amputee football team, we were supposed to participate in qualifiers for international tournaments this year, but the war prevented us. It is very painful because we are absent and forgotten.”

“We always dream of raising the Palestinian flag in international competitions and proving our presence despite all circumstances. But the war has affected every aspect of life, including sports.”

He adds that the destruction of sports infrastructure has made the resumption of sporting activity nearly impossible without external support, while also expressing frustration over what he describes as the football world governing body FIFA’s failure to deliver on its promises.

“Unfortunately, FIFA has not delivered anything in support of Palestinian sports. We urgently need rehabilitation of sports facilities and stadiums that were completely destroyed, so we can revive sporting activity again.”

In February, FIFA announced a partnership to launch a programme aimed at rebuilding football infrastructure in Gaza.

The plan reportedly includes 50 mini-pitches under the “FIFA Arena” project, five full-size stadiums, a football academy, and a national stadium with a capacity of around 20,000 spectators. The organisation also pledged support for community and development programmes linked to sport and the rehabilitation of the football sector.

Saadi and his teammates at Gaza Al-Irada say these projects remain, for now, unfulfilled promises.

In its announcement, FIFA said that implementation of the project would begin "in line with ongoing monitoring of safety and security conditions". Al Jazeera has reached out to FIFA for comment, but has not received a reply before publication.

The contrast becomes even more painful when Saadi compares the Qatar World Cup he followed in 2022 with today’s reality in Gaza.

“There is a huge gap between 2022 and today. Back then, we watched matches in homes and cafes and lived the atmosphere," he says. "Today there is no electricity, no screens, and even watching on phones or the internet has become extremely difficult.”

As fans around the world prepare to celebrate the opening of the football tournament, Saadi carries a different message to players and supporters taking part in it.

“We hope the world sees the Palestinian people as a people who deserve life. We hope Palestine remains present in stadiums and stands, that athletes speak about our suffering, and that they support these athletes so they can continue despite everything they have endured.”

Gaza Al-Irada was founded in May 2018 as an amputee football team to give people who lost limbs a chance to return to sport and participate in local and international competitions.

The team includes players injured in successive wars on Gaza, alongside others who lost limbs in different circumstances.

The World Health Organization believes that between 5,000 and 6,000 Palestinians in Gaza have had limbs amputated since Israel's war began in October 2023. Thousands of others have lost limbs in previous Israeli wars.

But the current war has delivered an unprecedented blow to Palestinian sport in Gaza.

According to a report by the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) in March, 1,007 members of the sporting community in Gaza have been killed by Israel since October 2023, including players, coaches, referees, administrators, and sports workers.

Sports facilities have not been spared the destruction Israel has wrought on the rest of Gaza, reducing much of the enclave to rubble. The PFA said that 265 sports facilities have been damaged or completely destroyed by Israeli attacks, including football fields, gyms, club buildings, swimming pools, and other sports infrastructure.

Many of Gaza’s main stadiums have been affected, while some facilities have been turned into shelters for displaced families.

According to the PFA, the destruction has impacted most of the sports infrastructure that once formed the backbone of sporting life in Gaza.

Hatem al-Mughrebi, Gaza Al-Irada's coach, says he sees the approaching World Cup as both a global celebration of football and a painful reminder of the isolation experienced by Gaza’s athletes.

“We will mostly watch the World Cup on mobile phones,” Hatem says.

“The reality of war and siege has had a devastating impact on the players’ psychological state, especially those in Gaza Al-Irada who have lost legs or arms.”

“They wished to experience the tournament like other athletes around the world, but today we have no screens, no events, while bombardment and casualties continue daily.”

Hatem recalls the last World Cup in Qatar, when a sports delegation from Gaza was able to attend matches and experience the atmosphere firsthand. Today, he says, Gaza is completely absent.

“This is a painful message from the international community to Gaza and its athletes,” he says.

“We need to break the silence and give Palestinian athletes the right to exist and participate.”

“What we need is real support that rebuilds stadiums and sports facilities and gives these players a chance to continue.”