Gianni Infantino's attempt to force a handshake between Israeli and Palestinian football officials at the FIFA Congress failed publicly and awkwardly. Now he's back with a bigger ask — use the opening game of FIFA's brand-new U-15 tournament to put the two nations on the same pitch.
According to The Athletic, Infantino is pushing for Israel vs Palestine to be the curtain-raiser for the inaugural under-15 festival, set to take place in the United States this September, shortly after the World Cup wraps up. All 211 FIFA member nations are invited — including Russia, despite its ongoing ban from competitive FIFA football since 2022.
What happened in Vancouver
The Congress moment was uncomfortable viewing. Infantino dragged Palestinian FA President Jibril Rajoub and Israeli FA vice president Basim Sheikh Suliman onto the stage in Vancouver and spent two full minutes trying to get them to shake hands. Rajoub wasn't playing along. "We are suffering!" he called out. The handshake didn't happen. Both men left the stage and went straight to the press with their own takes.
The IFA's response to the new proposal was diplomatically warm. "Our hands are always extended for a better future for everyone," an IFA spokesperson said. "We hope to find a brave partner on the other side." Whether Palestine's FA matches that tone is the entire question.
As of now, it's not confirmed that either association will actually participate. If they do, they'll be fielding seven-to-nine-player squads on smaller pitches for shortened matches — the exact format is still being worked out. The fall edition covers boys only; a girls' tournament follows next year.
Football as diplomacy — and its limits
Using youth football as a peace gesture isn't new, and Infantino clearly believes in the symbolism. Whether 14-year-olds playing a modified format in an American stadium actually moves anything politically is a different matter entirely.
What it does do is keep FIFA central to a geopolitical story that the sport cannot fully resolve. The opening fixture of this tournament — if it happens at all — will attract attention that has nothing to do with football. That's either a platform or a problem, depending on which side of the politics you're standing on.
The IFA says its president "will stick to what he said publicly several times" about using football for normalization. The Palestinian FA has said nothing publicly about September yet. That silence is probably the most telling detail in this whole story.
