UMM AL-KHAIR, West Bank (AP) — As the FIFA World Cup gets underway on June 11, with Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia among the Arab nations set to compete, soccer remains both a passion and a struggle for many Palestinians in the Israeli- occupied West Bank.
Palestinian boys look toward a young Israeli settler after their soccer ball, kicked beyond a barbed-wire fence surrounding a small football pitch near the Carmel settlement, was taken away in the West Bank Bedouin village of Umm al-Khair, Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
The Palestinian national team came agonizingly close to qualifying for the tournament but fell just short of reaching the 48-team field. Still, the World Cup will be closely watched in the West Bank, where, for many young Palestinians, the game offers both an escape from daily pressures and the realities that surround them.
In the Bedouin village of Umm al-Khair, in the Masafer Yatta region south of Hebron, children play on a small soccer pitch bordered by barbed wire erected by Israeli settlers from the nearby Carmel settlement. During a recent game, a ball kicked toward the goal landed beyond the fence as young settlers passed by. The settlers took the ball away, ending the match.
Residents say such incidents are common. The community has lost dozens of soccer balls. Attempting to retrieve them can risk confrontation with settlers and, at times, Israeli soldiers.
Wearing a Barcelona jersey bearing the name of Spanish soccer player Lamine Yamal, a Palestinian youth from a local soccer academy takes part in a training session at the municipal stadium in the West Bank city of Nablus, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Young Israeli settlers ride bicycles past Palestinian men sitting near a small soccer pitch in the West Bank Bedouin village of Umm al-Khair, Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Further north, in Nablus, children and teenagers from a local soccer academy train on a municipal stadium pitch that has fallen into disrepair. Along the sidelines, Palestinians from Gaza who held permits to work in Israel before the war watch the sessions as they hang clothes to dry. Stranded in the West Bank since the war broke out in October 2023, many have created makeshift homes in the stadium’s locker rooms, the facility’s manager says, fearing they could be forced to return to Gaza.
The Palestinian Football Federation has halted league matches throughout the war, citing the precarious security situation in the West Bank, where the Israeli military frequently conducts arrest raids and has erected scores of checkpoints. Once-rowdy soccer stadiums are largely empty, with some neglected.
At Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium in Al-Ram, home to the Palestinian national team, amateur players gather for training sessions. In Tulkarem, young players, some wearing national team jerseys, do the same. FIFA offered some funding to the Palestinian Football Association, but moved the national team’s “home” matches to other countries, including Jordan, Qatar and Malaysia, due to security concerns.
A Palestinian boy carries a worn soccer ball while playing with friends in an alley in the West Bank town of Al-Ram, Monday, May 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A referees’ bench with torn seats is seen next to the field at Dura International Stadium in the West Bank town of Dura, near Hebron, Monday, May 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
In the absence of regular league play, training sessions have become one of the few remaining spaces for exercise, social interaction and a sense of normality.
As the world’s attention turns toward soccer’s biggest tournament, the game continues to provide moments of community, resilience and hope for Palestinians across the West Bank.
Boys and girls play on a small soccer pitch, with caravans from the nearby Israeli settlement of Carmel visible in the background, in the West Bank Bedouin village of Umm al-Khair, Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
The shadow of a light pole stretches across the artificial turf at Faisal al-Husseini Stadium in the West Bank town of Al-Ram, Monday, May 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Clothes belonging to Palestinians from Gaza who had permits to work in Israel before the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack and have since been stranded in the West Bank hang to dry at the municipal stadium in the West Bank city of Nablus, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Backdropped by caravans from the Israeli settlement of Carmel, a Palestinian boy jumps for a ball while playing goalkeeper at a small soccer pitch in the West Bank Bedouin village of Umm al-Khair, Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A Palestinian from Gaza who had a permit to work in Israel before the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack sleeps in the grandstands of the municipal stadium, where some Palestinians stranded in the West Bank have taken shelter, in the West Bank city of Nablus, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Wearing jerseys in the colors of the Palestinian flag, boys smile as they pose after taking part in a soccer practice session at the municipal stadium in the West Bank city of Nablus, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Palestinian children play as youths from a local soccer academy take part in a training session at Jamal Ghanem Stadium in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Empty seats line the grandstands at Faisal al-Husseini Stadium in the West Bank town of Al-Ram, Monday, May 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Palestinian youths from a local academy take part in a training session at Jamal Ghanem stadium in West Bank city of Tulkarem, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Wearing a Palestinian national team soccer jersey, a youth from a local academy takes part in a training session at Jamal Ghanem Stadium in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A Palestinian boy from a local soccer academy wearing a Barcelona jersey kicks a ball during a practice session at the municipal stadium in the West Bank city of Nablus, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A Palestinian boy retrieves a soccer ball after it landed beyond a barbed-wire fence erected by Israeli settlers next to a football pitch in the West Bank Bedouin village of Umm al-Khair, Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A mural of a youth running with a soccer ball covers Israel’s separation wall in the West Bank town of Al-Ram, Monday, May 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
This is a documentary photo story curated by AP photo editors.
