Homeless World Cup facts for kids
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| Founded | 1999 |
|---|---|
| Region | Worldwide |
| Number of teams | 999+ |
| Current champions | M:  Chile (3rd title)W:  Mexico (8th title) |
| Most successful team(s) | M: Mexico (4 titles) W: Mexico (8 titles) |
| Website | http://www.homelessworldcup.org/ |
The Homeless World Cup is a special yearly soccer tournament. It's organized by the Homeless World Cup Foundation, a group that uses sports to help end homelessness around the world. In this tournament, teams of people who have experienced homelessness from many different countries come together to play soccer.
The first tournament was held in 1999. In 2008, a competition for women's teams was added. Since 2010, both men's and women's teams have played in every tournament.
Contents
About the Homeless World Cup
The Homeless World Cup organization was started in 2001 by Mel Young and Harald Schmied. Their goal was to find a worldwide way to help people who are homeless. The very first soccer tournament for homeless people happened in 2003 in Graz, Austria.
Since then, the tournament has been held in many cities around the world. These include places like Edinburgh, Cape Town, Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro, Paris, and Mexico City. The 2019 tournament was held in Cardiff, Wales. The famous actor Michael Sheen helped open the event.
The tournament planned for 2020 in Tampere, Finland, had to be cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The main office for the Homeless World Cup is in Edinburgh, Scotland.
How the Tournament Works
The Homeless World Cup works with over 80 groups in different countries. These groups help set up soccer programs and other projects to support people.
Who Can Play?
Players must be at least 16 years old to join the tournament. They also cannot have played in a Homeless World Cup before.
Players must also meet one of these rules:
- They have experienced homelessness at some point since the last tournament.
- They earn their main income by selling street newspapers.
- They are asylum seekers who do not yet have official status, or they gained residency status within the last year.
Team Setup
Each team has a maximum of four players on the field at one time:
- Three players who play in the field.
- One goalkeeper.
Teams can also have up to four substitute players. Players can be swapped in and out during the game.
Game Rules
Games are 14 minutes long, split into two halves of seven minutes each.
- If a team wins, they get 3 points.
- If a team loses, they get 0 points.
- If a game is a tie, it is decided by a sudden-death penalty shootout. The team that wins the shootout gets 2 points, and the team that loses gets 1 point.
The soccer field is 22 meters long and 16 meters wide. Since 2015, the games have been played on special fake grass fields.
Tournament Winners
Men's Champions
Women's Champions
| Year | Host City | Winners | Score | Runners-up | Third Place | Score | Fourth Place | Teams | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 Details |
Melbourne, Australia |
 Zambia |
7–1 |  Liberia |
 Cameroon |
 Colombia |
8 | ||||
| 2010 Details |
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
 Brazil |
7-3 |  Mexico |
 Haiti |
Colombia |
12 | ||||
| 2011 Details |
Paris, France |
 Kenya |
4–3 | Mexico |
Brazil |
 Argentina |
16 | ||||
| 2012 Details |
Mexico City, Mexico |
Mexico |
6-2 | Brazil |
 Chile |
 Netherlands |
13 | ||||
| 2013 Details |
Poznań, Poland |
Mexico |
4-1 | Chile |
 Hungary |
 Kyrgyzstan |
13 | ||||
| 2014 Details |
Santiago, Chile |
Chile |
4–3 | Mexico |
Brazil |
Hungary |
12 | ||||
| 2015 Details |
Amsterdam, Netherlands |
Mexico |
3–1 | Chile |
 Norway |
Hungary |
16 | ||||
| 2016 Details |
Glasgow, Scotland |
Mexico |
5-0 | Kyrgyzstan |
Chile |
6-6 (1–0p) |
 Scotland |
14 | |||
| 2017 Details |
Oslo, Norway |
Mexico |
4–2 | Chile |
Kenya |
Kyrgyzstan |
19 | ||||
| 2018 Details |
Mexico City, Mexico |
Mexico |
5–3 | Colombia |
Chile |
Brazil |
16 | ||||
| 2019 Details |
Cardiff, Wales |
Mexico |
5-1 |  Peru |
 Romania |
3-3 (2-1p) |
Chile |
16 | |||
| 2023 Details |
Sacramento, United States |
Mexico |
2-0 | Chile |
Romania |
7-4 |  Republic of Ireland |
12 |
Media and Films
The Homeless World Cup has been featured in many news stories and films. Journalist Rick Reilly once said it was "one of the best things I've covered." He loved seeing the players get cheered and feel good about themselves.
Several TV documentaries have followed teams from their homes to the tournament.
- In 2011, a documentary called Hors-Jeu: Carton rouge contre l’exclusion was shown on Canal+. It focused on the 2011 Paris tournament and teams from Japan, Argentina, Palestine, France, and Kenya.
- The 2006 tournament was the subject of a film called Kicking It. This documentary showed the experiences of seven homeless people playing in South Africa. It was narrated by actor Colin Farrell.
- In 2023, a South Korean comedy-drama film called Dream was released. It's about a soccer player who coaches a national team for the Homeless World Cup. It starred Park Seo-joon and Lee Ji-eun.
- In 2024, a sports drama film called The Beautiful Game came out on Netflix. It's about the English team competing in the Homeless World Cup. It stars Bill Nighy and Micheal Ward.
Images for kids
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The official logo of the Homeless World Cup.
See also
In Spanish: Copa Mundial de Fútbol Calle para niños
- Homeless Workers' Movement
