Demonstrations come amid calls to suspend Israel or boycott the game
Italy’s World Cup qualifier against Israel in Udine next week is expected to take place amid large-scale pro-Palestinian demonstrations outside the stadium.
Local officials expect thousands of protesters to gather near the Stadio Friuli on matchday and even outnumber the number of fans inside.
As of Monday, only around 4,000 tickets had been sold for the fixture. The protests come in response to the ongoing war in Gaza.
“It’s not going to be a calm environment,” said Italy’s coach Gennaro Gattuso. “There will be 10,000 people outside the stadium and 5-6,000 inside.”
Supporters, campaign groups and key figures in the Italian football federation have already urged Uefa to suspend Israel from footballing competitions. However, the World Cup qualifying matches lie under the governing body’s authority, meaning that only a Fifa ban can prevent Israel from playing the qualifiers.
Fifa have made no indications that it supports a ban, with president Gianni Infantino saying that the body “cannot solve geopolitical problems” but must instead “harness the unifying, educational, cultural and humanitarian values” of football to promote peace and unity.
There have been some calls for Italy to boycott the game, but that may only end up hurting them without affecting Israel.
“We have to play, because if we don’t we’ll lose it 3-0,” said Gattuso. “[Italian football federation] president [Gabriele] Gravina explained that very well.”
Both Italy and Israel are six points behind group leaders Norway in their qualifying group. Only the top team will qualify automatically for the 2026 World Cup, with the runner-up entering the playoffs.
Italy have failed to qualify for the last two World Cup tournaments and are eager to make it to this edition.
Israel’s upcoming trip to Norway on Saturday is also expected to draw protests.
