Video: Palestine Announces World Cup Squad with Emotional Video from Gaza
Occupied Palestine (Quds News Network)- The Palestine Football Association (PFA) has announced its squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers with a moving video filmed in Gaza, shattered by relentless Israeli attacks. The video, featuring Palestinian children searching through the rubble, highlights the devastation of the ongoing Israeli genocide.
The Palestine national team has revealed their roster for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers through a touching video filmed in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/Zq6492k0L6
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) March 14, 2025
The 3-minute video opens with a young boy juggling a football on the Gaza seashore. He stumbles upon a portrait of Musab Battat, a defender for the national team. As he walks through the destroyed city, other children join him, each finding more portraits of selected players amidst the ruins.
The footage captures scenes of daily struggles—families lining up for water, makeshift classrooms in tents, and a nation trying to hold on to hope. The children gather at a shattered football field, hanging the portraits on a rusty goalpost. Then, they begin to play, symbolizing resilience amid tragedy.
Palestine will face Jordan on March 20 and Iraq on March 25 in the qualifiers. Initially, the PFA hoped to play at Faisal Al-Husseini Stadium in the occupied Palestinian capital city, but fear of Israel’s repression forced the matches to be relocated to Amman, Jordan.
The Palestinian Football Association said it received a message from both the Asian and International federations saying that “the match cannot be held in Palestine due to time constraints, and the fear that the Israeli occupation might obstruct the arrival of the Jordanian brothers, as well as prevent the entry of the technical staff assigned to supervise the match, along with the delegations from both the Asian and International federations.”
Ehab Abu Jazar leads the squad as head coach.
At the end of 2024, the Palestinian Football Association announced a tragic rise in the number of sports and scouting members killed by Israel’s genocide in Gaza, reaching 644 people. Among the victims, 359 were players, administrators, and workers in the football field, including 91 children and 268 young adults.
Additionally, 89 members of the scouting community and 196 individuals from various sports federations lost their lives. The association also reported that 24 football personnel had been detained in the West Bank. Israel also destroyed 278 sports facilities, with 265 in Gaza and 13 in the West Bank.
