FIFA Plans Historic Israel-Palestine Youth Match to Open New U.S. Tournament

FIFA president Gianni Infantino is promoting a controversial sports diplomacy initiative that would pair Israel’s boys’ team against a Palestinian team in a new youth tournament. The match is expected to open the event, which FIFA is planning for under-15 teams in the United States in September.

Although the tournament is not a formal World Cup, FIFA wants it to feel like a global football festival. The organization plans to invite all 211 member countries, including Russia, which remains suspended from senior official competitions.

Infantino’s goal is to use football as a tool for peace, and FIFA first revealed initial plans for the new age-group tournament in December. The Israel-Palestine opening match has been kept as FIFA’s flagship idea for the event.

The move comes only weeks after an embarrassing episode at the 76th FIFA Congress in Vancouver, where Infantino tried to stage a public handshake between Palestinian Football Association chairman Jibril Rajoub and Israel Football Association vice chairman Bassam Suleiman. Despite repeated appeals from Infantino on camera, Rajoub refused to stand beside the Israeli representative, leaving FIFA leadership visibly unable to manage the moment.