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Tournament open to all Fifa members, including RussiaInfantino wants to use football to promote peaceAlthough not an official Under-15 World Cup, the competition will be open to all 211 Fifa members, including Russia, who remain banned at senior level.Infantino experienced embarrassment in April when an attempt to orchestrate a handshake between the Palestinian and Israeli delegates at the governing body’s congress in Vancouver backfired.The Palestinian Football Association’s president, Jibril Rajoub, refused to stand alongside the Israel FA’s vice-president, Basim Sheikh Suliman, in an awkward moment towards the end of the 76th Fifa congress despite repeated entreaties from Infantino.This experience does not appear to have deterred Fifa’s president from attempting to play peacemaker, however, with a proposal to open the under-15s tournament with a game between Israel and Palestine under active consideration.The venue for the tournament has not been confirmed but Miami is regarded as the most likely. Fifa has extensive offices in the city.The first tournament will be a boys’ competition, with a girls’ edition 12 months later, before Fifa moves to organise two separate festivals each year from 2028.“Let me thank the two representatives from Israel and from Palestine, who have the same rights, duties and obligations, who are members of Fifa,” Infantino said. “We will work together, let’s work together to give hope to the children, let’s work together for that.“We have a beautiful under-15 tournament coming up, where we will invite all 211 countries to participate, all the children of the world, let’s do it for that. Let’s work together. You have my commitment, you have the support of the whole room.”One Fifa source said a handshake in Vancouver had been agreed in advance, only for Rajoub to change his mind during the speeches.The Palestinian delegates were unrepentant in the immediate aftermath, with the Palestinian FA’s vice-president Susan Shalabi telling Reuters: “I cannot shake the hand of someone the Israelis have brought to whitewash their fascism and genocide. We are suffering.”

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Had been calls for Nations League tie to be boycottedFAI agree to move contest away from Aviva StadiumThe Republic of Ireland are to play their upcoming Nations League game against Israel at a neutral venue behind closed doors following protests by players and fans over the death toll of Palestinian civilians during the war in Gaza.Ireland had been set to host Israel at the Aviva Stadium on 4 October, while a 27 September fixture designated as an Israel home match is also expected to be staged at a neutral venue. But Irish footballers, fans and celebrities launched a campaign calling for a boycott of the game.“Following consultation with various stakeholders, the association is of the view that operational challenges could impact on the delivery of the game on home soil, so the fixture will be played away from the Aviva Stadium,” the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) said in a statement.Ireland has been one of the European Union’s most outspoken critics of Israel’s war in Gaza, and FAI members voted overwhelmingly in late 2025 for its board to request that Uefa immediately suspend the Israel Football Association from European competitions. United Nations experts have appealed to Fifa and Uefa to suspend Israel from international football, citing a UN commission of inquiry report that said Israel had committed genocide during the war in Gaza. Israel has denied committing genocide and described the report as scandalous.The FAI statement said the Palestinian Football Association had “expressed its appreciation for the principled positions taken by the Football Association of Ireland in support of the rights of the Palestinian people and Palestinian athletes”.Nearly 73,000 people in Gaza have been killed since the war began, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities.