As the World Cup was unfolding, Israel was continuing its uninterrupted murder and land theft across occupied Palestine and Lebanon, having also triggered the megalomaniacal US President Donald Trump to join its war on Iran.
But the genocidal Zionists were not entirely oblivious to the World Cup. They still managed to poison former world champion Argentina’s name and sully its reputation.
Twenty years ago, I was in Lebanon while the 2006 World Cup was under way in Germany. Days after we left Beirut, the Israelis invaded Lebanon yet again.
We had watched some of the World Cup games with Palestinian and Lebanese friends in refugee camps. We left Beirut on 2 July, the World Cup ended on 9 July, and by 12 July, the Israelis were bombing Lebanon. Bombing defenceless people is their national sport.
Under remarkably similar circumstances today, with the 2026 World Cup now concluded, it’s time for a quick meditation on the still-beautiful, though much-maligned game, which graces a deeply troubled world.
