World Cup football fever helps West Bank residents forget their woes

As Israeli military raids continue across the occupied West Bank, the football World Cup is helping Palestinians in the city of Ramallah to forget their woes.

Although the national team narrowly missed qualifying for the competition, fans have been cheering for Brazil and Spain, as well as countries closer to home like Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, and Morocco.

And this football fever is improving sales of the different team’s balls and jerseys.

"There is, of course, a high demand for Brazil and a significant interest in Spain in terms of national teams, and there is Arab solidarity, of course,” said sport store owner, Motaz Ismail.

"This year there was a high representation of Arabs after they adjusted the number of participating teams, so you find there is interest too in the Arab teams,” he said.

"We don't know exactly who will win, it could be a surprise for everyone. However, the performance of the players, I mean most of the national teams who reached this stage are all considered excellent players,” said Ramallah resident, Abdel Fattah Shujaieh.

In his opinion, Brazil will win because “its performance is always strong”, but he said he was supporting the Arab teams because of their shared cultural identity.

Sales of football gear is helping business in the territory where the financial crisis has deepened since the eruption of the Israel-Hamas war in 2023. Ismail said there was a high demand for the latest World Cup ball by Adidas, which pays tribute to three countries.

"And it's surprising how much demand there is on the flags also. I mean, soccer remains the number one in demand, more than other products,” he said.

He pointed to a Palestinian ball, saying everyone was hoping that next time they will participate in the World Cup. As the tournament reaches the knockout stages, the game continues to provide moments of community, resilience, and hope for Palestinians across the West Bank.

Sixteen teams have now been eliminated, with Arab nations Morocco, Egypt, and Algeria in the last 32.