Gazans support the Egyptian national team against Belgium in the World Cup Sports news

Despite all the hardships and sorrows they have been experiencing due to war and deprivation for nearly three years, all of that did not prevent many Gazans, especially young people, from expressing their support for the Egyptian national team in its first World Cup match against Belgium.

In one of the tents that the Gazans turned into a café, young people gathered on simple chairs in front of a television screen to follow the events of the Egyptian and Belgium national team match. The Egyptian flag decorated the tent, while some young people chose to place the flag on their shoulders while watching the match, according to what Al Jazeera Mubasher camera showed.

In a way that shows the Gazans’ love for life and their adherence to it despite the difficulties, the camera showed a young man sitting in a wheelchair, keenly following the course of the match and enthusiastically encouraging the Egyptian team.

The war that Israel began on Gaza in October 2023 left more than 120,000 injured, most of them young people. This war also caused the death of dozens of Palestinian athletes, some of whom were members of the Palestinian national team. The occupation forces destroyed all stadiums and gyms in the Strip, in line with the policy of annihilating all aspects of life in it.

In every international tournament played by any of the Arab teams, Gazans rush to show their support and support for these teams, emphasizing the strong ties that unite them with the Arab peoples.

Arab teams in the World Cup

The history of Arab participation in the World Cup goes back to the 1934 edition, when the Egyptian team qualified as the first Arab team to the finals. After that, the participation of teams from Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait and the Emirates continued, leading to the previous edition in Qatar in 2022, which recorded the most prominent result in Arab history with the Moroccan team reaching fourth place in the world.

In the current edition of 2026, the scope of competition will expand with the implementation of the new system for the tournament, which requires increasing the number of participating teams to 48 teams, which has provided additional seats for Arab teams across the continents of Asia and Africa. These matches are constantly followed in the Palestinian territories and the Arab region, as the start dates for the World Cup matches are set according to Doha time.