Homeless World Cup

History

The Homeless World Cup organization was co-founded by Mel Young and Harald Schmied in 2001 to advocate for a global solution to homelessness. The first annual football tournament for homeless people took place in 2003 in Graz, Austria. Host cities since then have included Gothenburg, Edinburgh, Cape Town, Copenhagen, Melbourne, Milan, Rio de Janeiro, Paris, Poznań, Santiago, Amsterdam, Glasgow, Oslo, Mexico City, and Cardiff.

The 2019 edition was hosted by Wales in Bute Park, Cardiff, with Michael Sheen opening the tournament. The 2020 tournament had been due to take place in Tampere, Finland, but was cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2023 tournament took place in Sacramento, California, and the 2024 edition took place in Seoul, Korea.

The international headquarters of the Homeless World Cup is located at 1 Broughton Market, in Edinburgh, Scotland.

National partners

The Homeless World Cup organization operates through a network of more than 79 national partners around the world, supporting football programs and social enterprise development.

• Afghanistan
• Argentina
• Australia
• Austria
• Belgium
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Brazil
• Bulgaria
• Burundi
• Cambodia
• Cameroon
• Canada
• Chile
• Colombia
• Costa Rica
• Croatia
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Egypt
• England
• Ethiopia
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Ghana
• Greece
• Grenada
• Haiti
• Hong Kong
• Hungary
• India
• Indonesia
• Ireland
• Italy
• Ivory Coast
• Japan
• Kazakhstan
• Kenya
• Kyrgyzstan
• Liberia
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malawi
• Mexico
• Moldova
• Namibia
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Nigeria
• Northern Ireland
• Norway
• Pakistan
• Palestine
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Philippines
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Russia
• Rwanda
• Scotland
• Serbia
• Sierra Leone
• Singapore
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• South Africa
• South Korea
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Timor-Leste
• Uganda
• Ukraine
• United States
• Vietnam
• Wales
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe

Members

There are 69 Nations in October 2023, split into 5 regions:

1. Africa (14): Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
2. Asia & Oceania (12): Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Philippines, South Korea, Vietnam
3. Europe (31): Austria, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, Wales
4. North America & Central America & The Caribbean (6): Costa Rica, Grenada, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, USA
5. South America (6): Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru

Format

Fields

Since 2015 the tournament has been played on synthetic turf fields from Act Global.

Rules

Player eligibility

Players must meet all of the following criteria:

• Be at least 16 years old at the time of the tournament
• Have not taken part in previous Homeless World Cup tournaments Also, must be any of the following:
• Have been homeless at some point after the previous year's tournament in accordance with the national definition of homelessness
• Make their main living income as a streetpaper vendor
• Be asylum seekers currently without positive asylum status or who were previously asylum seekers but obtained residency status a year before the event
• Currently be in drug or alcohol rehabilitation and also have been homeless at some point in the past two years

Participants

A maximum of 4 players per team on the court:

• 3 outfield players,
• 1 goalkeeper,
• Plus 4 substitution players (rolling substitution allowed)

Tournament details

The winning team gets 3 points. The losing team gets zero points. If a match ends in a draw, it is decided by sudden-death penalty shootout and the winning team gets two points and the losing team gets one point. Games are 14 minutes long, in two seven-minute halves. The field measures 22m long x 16m wide.

Broadcast

FIFA+ broadcasts the Homeless World Cup.

Results

Men

Participating nations

Women

Participating nations

Performance by country

Men

Women

Medals

Men (2003—2023)

Women (2008—2023)

Media coverage

Journalist Rick Reilly said "Homeless soccer turned out to be one of the best things I've covered in all my years. Seeing these people finally getting cheered, finally feeling some self-worth, was great. It was great to see these guys caring about something other than booze or where they're going to find food or where they're going to sleep - just getting to be regular people for once."{{ Cite web|url=https://www.dispatch.com/story/entertainment/2010/05/05/writer-probes-odd-competitions/64581252007/|title=Writer probes odd competitions|website=Columbus Dispatch|language=en-US|access-date=2022-06-29}}

Several TV documentaries have been made tracking the participation of teams from homelessness to participating at the annual event.

In 2011, a 90-minute documentary called Hors-Jeu: Carton rouge contre l’exclusion was broadcast by Canal+ and focused on the Paris 2011 Homeless World Cup and Homeless World Cup itself and five national partners: Japan, Argentina, Palestine, France and Kenya. It was aired in France on 9 October 2011. The documentary was directed by Jérôme Mignard and Thomas Risch.

The 2006 Homeless World Cup was the subject of a documentary entitled Kicking It. directed by Susan Koch and Jeff Werner focusing on the experiences of seven homeless people at the Homeless World Cup football (soccer) game in South Africa. Featured in the documentary, narrated by actor Colin Farrell were residents of Afghanistan; Kenya; Dublin, Ireland; Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.; Madrid, Spain and St. Petersburg in Russia. The film premiered in January, 2008 at the Sundance Film Festival, distributed by Liberation Entertainment, Netflix and ESPN.

In 2023, the South Korean comedy-drama film Dream was released, centering on a football player who receives disciplinary provision and is given the job of coaching the national football team for the Homeless World Cup. Directed by Lee Byeong-heon and starring Park Seo-joon and Lee Ji-eun, it was the twelfth highest-grossing Korean film of the year.

In 2024, The Beautiful Game was released on Netflix. The sports drama film written by Frank Cottrell-Boyce and directed by Thea Sharrock, it centers around the English football squad as they compete in the Homeless World Cup. The film stars Bill Nighy, Micheal Ward, Valeria Golino and Susan Wokoma in leading roles.

References

References

1. (5 August 2024). "FIFA to support the Homeless World Cup Foundation". www.insidethegames.biz.
2. "PREVIOUS HOMELESS WORLD CUPS".
3. "Bringing the Homeless World Cup to Wales".
4. "Tampere 2020 Homeless World Cup Cancelled {{!}} Homeless World Cup Foundation".
5. "PREVIOUS HOMELESS WORLD CUPS".
6. "All nations - Homeless World Cup".
7. "Member Countries".
8. (5 August 2024). "FIFA to support the Homeless World Cup Foundation". www.insidethegames.biz.
9. (2008-12-07). "Homeless World Cup concludes in Melbourne". [[ABC News and Current Affairs]].
10. (12 December 2011). "Paris 2011 Women's Homeless World Cup - Mexico vs. Kenya - the final (highlights) {{!}} Homeless World Cup Foundation".
11. (14 October 2012). "Final MEXICO - BRAZIL women day 9, HWC 2012 {{!}} Homeless World Cup Foundation".
12. (18 August 2013). "Poznan 2013 - MEXICO - CHILE WOMEN'S HOMELESS WORLD CUP FINAL {{!}} Homeless World Cup Foundation".
13. (2008-10-27). "Chile beat Mexico in Women's Homeless World Cup 2014 Final". [[News Ghana]].
14. "Match Highlights: Mexico vs. Chile (Women's) Finals".
15. "Mexico v Kyrgyzstan l Women's Homeless World Cup Final #HWC2016 {{!}} Homeless World Cup Foundation".
16. (16 July 2016). "Chile v Scotland l Women's Homeless World Cup Third Place Play Off #HWC2016 {{!}} Homeless World Cup Foundation".
17. (26 November 2015). "Full Match: Mexico vs. Chile, Homeless World Cup Final (Women's), Sept. 19 {{!}} Homeless World Cup Foundation".
18. (16 July 2016). "Chile (w) vs Romania (w) l Women's Third Place Play-Off l Homeless World Cup 2019 {{!}} Homeless World Cup Foundation".
19. Risch, Thomas. (October 8, 2011). "Bande Annonce - Hors Jeu, carton rouge contre l'exclusion".
20. "【口コミ】エメリルヘアオイルは効果なし？私の体験談と驚きの事実".
21. Palmer, Nancy Doyle. (2008-06-01). "Spotlight: Susan Koch". [[Washingtonian (magazine).
22. (29 March 2024). "'The Beautiful Game' Review: Bill Nighy Leads a Game Cast in Netflix's Sweet, Predictable Soccer Dramedy". The Hollywood Reporter.