Tension ahead of Italy vs. Israel 2026 World Cup qualifier

Police clashed with protesters ahead of Italy’s World Cup qualifier against Israel, while there was also tension during the national anthems.

It kicks off at the Stadio Friuli in Udine at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT).

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens on the Liveblog.

The atmosphere was inevitably tense for a match that many called to be cancelled, with FIFA and UEFA rejecting appeals to expel Israel from the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign.

Italy fans protest against Israel

There were eventually around 10,000 people inside the stadium, who had to leave over an hour of time to get through the extensive security checks.

Among them were around 150 Israel supporters.

There were snipers on the roof and extreme lengths were taken to ensure the safety and security of the Israeli team, as is often the case when they play away from home.

Adding fuel to the fire was a Free Palestine protest in the Udine city square, which was around 4km away from the stadium and just before kick-off the local police used water cannons to push them back away from the arena.

Local reports vary from 8,000 to 15,000 on how many people attended, although the recent ceasefire in Gaza took the temperature down a little bit.

Inside the stadium, there were loud jeers during the Israeli national anthem, but also some applause from the rest of the crowd to drown that out.

A further tense veil was placed over the match, because there was a minute’s silence before kick-off following the death of three carabinieri police officers in Castel d’Azzano this morning, near Verona.

They were trying to enact a forced eviction when struck by an explosion, with 13 others injured, as the house was booby-trapped.