Amidst the rubble in Gaza, and far from the spectacle of the FIFA event in North America, a World Cup simulation game was played on Thursday among soccer players who survived the ongoing “genocide” in Palestine.It was a surreal sight that seemed straight out of a Polanski war film.The green territory, surrounded by a city on a path, was not only witness to the first football match to be broadcast live in Gaza since the attacks led by Israel began in October 2023, the six-a-side game also had an interesting political context.While one team was in the national colors of Palestine, the other had on them the Spanish jersey – apparently in recognition of the support of Spain and the recognition of the state of Palestine. It also brought up the support La Rojas will receive from this strife-torn region when they meet Argentina in the World Cup final on Monday.The Spanish flags fluttering next to the Palestinian ones were also testimony to the fact that, despite all the mandates from FIFA to make the World Cup without politics, the reality was far from the rules written behind closed doors of its headquarters in Zurich.It also does not help the cause of the world body led by Gianni Infantino that the protagonists of the MetLife Stadium on Monday represent two countries at the opposite ends of the political spectrum.While the Spanish socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez has been the strongest voice for Palestine, inclusiveness and left-wing ideology in Europe, the political ideology of his Argentine counterpart can be summed up in him being one of the strongest supporters of the president of the United States. Donald Trump.Prime Minister Javier Milei was famously quoted as saying that “the only left that works is Messi’s left foot”.He is an anarcho-capitalist, minarchist and libertarian conservative, who supports conservative social values, is a supporter of Israel and has Benjamin Netanyahu like another famous friend.That their ideology can be spread in the World Cup venues is evident in the racist insults that some Argentine fans have been documented as inflicting on a colored American influencer, as well as throwing beer at Egypt fans during Argentina’s round of 16 clash.There was the incident of some players of the 2022 World Cup winning team singing a racist song on the team bus after their victory in Qatar.It is a satire on history itself that the country once colonized by the Spanish empire – which rid the land of its own people – now has the right-wing government of Milei at the helm while its colonizers stay on the left and favor diversity and socialism. And, that the Latin American finalists are the only all-white team among the 48 nations in the World Cup, while Spain will have players of immigrant descent such as Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams working in tandem with ethnic Spaniards such as Pedri and Ferran Torres to bring the trophy home.It is also worth noting that the man who replaced Che-tattoo sporting Maradona as the greatest of football, remains apolitical, seeing nothing in being seen with Trump. Therefore, Lionel Messi he is also in stark contrast to his male counterpart at the opposite end, 19-year-old Yamal, who waved the Palestinian flag during Barcelona’s victory parade.And this is the reality that the world will look at when the clash at the top begins in New Jersey.However, the 2026 edition – held against the backdrop of the US and Israel’s war on Iran – has already been mired in politics.While the Iranian team had to move its base to Mexico due to the sanctions of the United States and forced to face and outside the States for its matches, the African Referee of the year, the Somali Omar Artan, was the victim of another of the sanctions of the hosts that prevent him from entering their lands to officiate in the World Cup.So, when La Rojas take the field against the Albiceleste, the political issues lie in their background.And while a Spanish victory is bound to see the Rojigualda fluttering in the sky far from Gaza, an Argentine victory will not only be another gift for Messi fans, but is also likely to make the biggest icons of the right wing – Milei, Trump and Netanyahu, who has also expressed his support for Argentina – rejoice in unison.