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UDINE: Italy’s 2026 World Cup qualifier with Israel was prefaced by clashes between pro-Palestinian demonstrators and police on Tuesday as thousands of people marched through Udine in anger at the hosting of a match they felt should not be played.
The Gaza ceasefire deal signed on Monday and a hostage and prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas did nothing to dampen the resolve of around 10,000 protesters who descended on the small city in Italy’s far north-east, a small section of whom were involved in disorder at the end of the march.
Over 1,000 police officers and army personnel were deployed while helicopters and drones flew overhead to keep a watch on a demonstration which was kept several kilometers away from the Bluenergy Stadium hosting the Group I fixture.
There was little chance of protesters reaching the stadium as checkpoints were put up in a ring around it, with spectators having to pass concrete barriers and metal detectors in order to watch a match which is key to Italy’s bid to ensure they qualify for a World Cup for the first time since 2014.
The security operation was designed to stop rioting and ensure no-one gets near the ground or the Israel team, but although the march started peacefully in warm autumn sunshine it ended with police using a water cannon and tear gas on some of the marchers who threw rocks at officers.
There was little sign of violent disorder when the march started at around 1800 local time , with the loudest noise the drumming and sound systems accompanying dancing from people of ages, who waved Palestinian flags and banners which read “show Israel the red card.”
“There’s no more bombs and that makes us happy, but the problem with this peace plan is that there is no talk of a Palestinian state,” says Amer Hasan, a 61-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank who has been in Italy since moving to study 42 years ago.
“There’s no talk of self-determination, no talk about the West Bank nor of the fate of Gaza... it seems like Gaza will be governed by Tony Blair and Donald Trump, without any involvement from the Palestinians.
“We shouldn’t be playing this match because a team that represents a nation that has committed a genocide is playing.”
Hasan is a representative of Palestinian communities in the regions of Veneto and Fruili-Venezia Giulia, who with four other associations organized Tuesday’s march and welcomed more than 340 activist groups from all over Italy.

They all ask that football’s world governing body FIFA exclude Israel from international competition, as happened with Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and were among the hordes of people chanting slogans like “Free Palestine” and “Genocidal Israel.”
More than 67,869 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel launched a military offensive in response to a brutal cross-border assault carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
Almost all of the more than two million civilians who lived there before the war have been driven from their homes at least once.
There is anger in Italy over the country’s football federation  refusing to entertain a boycott of matches with Israel, unlike Football Association of Norway  whose head Lise Klaveness, recently said Israel should be sanctioned.
“The Norwegian FA has begun taking a position against the presence of Israeli teams, there’s a totally different type of behavior across the board compared to what you see here ,” said Carlina, an activist from Udine Committee For Palestine who helped organize the march.
And some of that frustration was on show just before kick-off, when a large section of Italian fans loudly booed the Israeli national anthem.
That booing was quickly drowned out by applause from the rest of those present in the ground, including the small pocket of Israeli fans.
Officially the attendance for the match was 10,000 but it looked and sounded much less in the stands, with huge swathes of empty seats across all four stands of the 25,000-capacity stadium.
 

DOHA: Qatar qualified for the 2026 World Cup on Tuesday after they saw off the United Arab Emirates 2-1 in Doha.
The 2022 World Cup hosts, who did not make it out of the group stage three years ago in their first ever appearance at the tournament, triumphed in the must-win clash at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium thanks to second-half goals from captain Boualem Khoukhi and Pedro Miguel.
Akram Afif, the two-time Asian Player of the Year, got both assists.

The win meant Qatar, winners of the past two Asian Cups, finished top of Group A in the fourth round of Asian qualification and therefore booked their place in next summer’s finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The UAE, who needed only a draw to progress to a second World Cup in their history, will next month meet the loser of the Group B decider between �������� and Iraq in a two-legged tie, with the winner going into an intercontinental playoff.

The Saudis host Iraq in Jeddah later on Tuesday where the former also require only a draw to advance.
It was Qatar, coached by former Spain, Real Madrid and West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui, who created the first chance of the clash with the UAE, Sultan Al Brake forcing a fine, close-range save from Khalid Essa as Ayoub Al Ouwi flashed the rebound wide.
Not long after, UAE defender Lucas Pimenta headed inches wide from a Caio Lucas cross.
At the other end, Mohammad Al Mannai headed off target from Edmilson Junior’s brilliant cross from the right. Completely unmarked, the Belgian-born forward should have scored.
However, Qatar were celebrating four minutes into the second half, when Khoukhi met Afif’s in-swinging free-kick to head past Essa.
The hosts then doubled their lead in the 74th minute from yet another set-piece, this time Essa misjudging an Afif free-kick to leave Pedro Miguel to head into the empty net at the back post.
Late on, Qatar had Tarek Salman sent off for a studs-up tackle, before, in the eighth minute of injury-time, UAE substitute Sultan Adil reduced the deficit with a fine volley.
Qatar, who made unwelcome history in 2022 by becoming the first World Cup hosts to lose all three group games, saw out the match to take their place on merit at the 2026 edition.