The national soccer team made it to the knockout stages of the Arab Cup for the first time, uniting fans from Gaza to the West Bank to Cairo to Arab cities in Israel.
The two countries, which criminalize homosexuality and impose severe punishments for it, were picked to play on a day celebrating L.G.B.T.Q. communities.
A soccer governing body that both countries have helped bankroll gave them extra rest and home-field advantage to set up World Cup qualification.
Confrontation has shadowed Israeli teams’ games in Europe since the start of the Gaza war. Local authorities sought to bar visiting fans at a game in central England next month.
Gianni Infantino, the head of soccer’s global governing body, frequently appears alongside President Trump at events outside the realm of sports.
The soccer star has been living in the country with Georgina Rodríguez, the mother of his children, testing the boundaries of social change in the conservative Islamic kingdom.
The Emirati vice president is best known as the owner of Manchester City, a top English soccer team. Behind the scenes, he has been described as the “handler” guiding his country’s secret foreign wars.