Palestinian football fans wave national and Qatari flags as they watch a live broadcast of the 2022 World Cup opening match between Qatar and Ecuador, at a covered gymnasium in Gaza city, on Nov. 20, 2022. Credit - Mahmud Hams—AFP via Getty Images
The 2022 World Cup has been something of a public-relations nightmare for its host, Qatar. Criticisms continue to abound over the country’s exploitation of migrant workers, its poor record on LGBTQ+ rights (and those expressing solidarity with LGBTQ+ people), and the purportedly corrupt manner in which it won its hosting bid in the first place. To make matters worse, the Qatari national team failed to win a single match in the Group stage, ensuring its early exit from the tournameYet for much of the Arab world, this World Cup—the first to be held in the region—has been something of a triumph. It has featured major sporting upsets, mended political rivalries, and showcased rare displays of pan-Arab unity amid an otherwise competitive atmosphere. That sentiment will be on display Wednesday when Arab fans cheer on as Saudi Arabia squares off against Mexico at 10 p.m. local time (2 p.m. ET) and when Morocco does the same against Canada at the same time Thursday. The outcome of both games will determine whether the two teams will advance to the Knockout stage.
A reminder of pan-Arab nationalism
The most obvious expressions of unity have centered around the games, some of which have resulted in stunning upsets for Arab teams against some of the world’s highest-ranked squads. The most notable of these came when Saudi Arabia (ranked 51st in FIFA’s world rankings) defeated Argentina (ranked 3rd) 2-1 in its opening match. The result left most observers, including Saudi fans, in shock before spurring celebrations across the region—from displays of the Saudi flag on skyscrapers in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to public celebrations in Egypt, Jordan, and Gaza. The result even prompted some celebrations in Yemen, where a Saudi-led military coalition has been waging a brutal war against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels since 2015. Arab fans were given another reason to celebrate less than a week later, when Morocco (ranked 22nd) bested Belgium (ranked 2nd) in a match that ended 2-0. (Though in Belgium things turned sour when dozens of Moroccans took to rioting in Brussels and Antwerp, including torching cars and scooters. Some on Twitter have cheekily called the destruction the best example yet of integration, given Europe’s reputation for soccer hooliganism.)
That soccer victories would be significant in unifying a region that shares so many linguistic, cultural, and religious traditions may seem odd to most World Cup viewers. But Arab governments have long been beset by political divisions, not least when it comes to issues as vexed as Israel and its treatment of Palestinians, who despite not being represented by a national team have had an outsized presence in this tournament. While most Arab countries do not have established ties with Israel, a small number of states—among them the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco—recently opted to change that with normalization agreements through the U.S.-led Abraham Accords launched under former President Donald Trump. But those political realities haven’t been reflected at the World Cup, where crowds of Arab fans have been seen waving Palestinian flags and chanting pro-Palestine slogans. Some refused to speak with Israeli broadcasters, while others took the opportunity to express their solidarity with the Palestinian people.