False: Qatar captain Hassan Al-Haydos wore a Palestinian armband hours before the first FIFA World Cup 2022 match.

Context 

The ongoing FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 has been a hotbed for controversies ever since the tournament kickstarted on November 20 with an opening match between the host country and Ecuador. Like many of its predecessors, the biggest football event has been marked by political statements made on and off the pitch. Visuals of political gestures and protests from the 2022 World Cup are going viral on social media; however, many posts are also spreading false narratives. One Facebook post claimed that Qatar national team captain Hassan Al-Haydos wore a Palestinian flag armband before the start of the tournament. The image in the post shows two visuals —a photo of captain Hassan Al-Haydos and a zoomed-in image of an arm with the Palestinian armband. 

In Fact

Qatar played the opening match on November 20 against Ecuador at the Al Bayt Stadium and suffered a 0-2 defeat. We found several images of Hassan Al-Haydos from this match on Getty Images. He was seen wearing an armband with "FOOTBALL UNITES the world" written on it. Qatar played the second match against Senegal on November 25 at Al Thumama Stadium, where the African nation registered a 2-0 win. Hassan Al-Haydos wore a "Save The Planet" armband in this match. According to images on Getty Images from the corresponding date, the Qatari captain passed his armband to his fellow teammate Abdulaziz Hatem before a substitution. Qatar played the Netherlands on November 29 and lost 0-2. Photos on Getty Images show Al-Haydos had a "PROTECT CHILDREN" armband during the match.

In the first two matches, Al-Haydos wore his team's red uniform, as shown in the viral Facebook post. However, there are no verified images, videos, or news reports of him allegedly wearing a Palestinian flag armband before or during the World Cup so far. Al-Haydos supported a white jersey and shorts like other Qatari players while playing against the Netherlands. 

The image in the viral post is edited, as we found the original photo of Al-Haydos in a 2019 article published on the Vietnamese news website Soha. Al-Haydos is not wearing the Palestine flag armband in the photograph. The image is from a match between Qatar and UAE during 2019 AFC Asian Cup, and Al-Haydos wore an armband supporting the Asian Football Confederation's (AFC) logo. 

 Qatar was the first team to crash out of the 2022 World Cup after two consecutive losses in the group stages. Qatar was in Group A with Senegal, Netherlands, and Ecuador.

The Verdict

Qatar captain Hassan Al-Haydos wore a "FOOTBALL UNITES the world" armband in the first match, a "Save The Planet" armband in the second, and a "PROTECT CHILDREN" armband in the third match. He did not wear a Palestinian flag armband in the tournament, and the image in question has been edited. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.