June 2023, Argentina. Israel's Under-20 side has just beaten Brazil in a World Cup quarter-final, and commentator Ido Rakovsky is struggling to find the words. "It was like reporting on science fiction, rather than sport," he says. Back in Tel Aviv, the nation is watching.

Five days later, the semi-final against Uruguay pulls a 23% share of Israeli television viewers — the most-watched broadcast of that evening. Politicians are queuing up to send congratulations. An entire country, fractured by political crisis and decades of conflict, has fallen in love with a group of teenagers playing football in South America. What makes that team remarkable is not only the results.

In the last 16, Israeli Arab striker Anan Khalaili scores a stoppage-time winner against Uzbekistan and then addresses viewers at home in Hebrew, using the phrase "Am Yisrael" — People of Israel — a term steeped in Jewish religious and cultural history. For Rakovsky, who covered the tournament for Haaretz, the moment speaks volumes. "That team made real the claim that football can really bring people together," he says, "Muslim players representing the Jewish state and creating something better, both for the present and future." The run is no accident.

This same generation had already reached the final of the 2022 Under-19 Euros, losing to England only in extra time.