As the 2026 FIFA World Cup draws to a close, with the final match scheduled for July 19, many soccer fans may be interested in following another World Cup coming up soon in Mexico City.
Celebrating its 21st year of competition, the Homeless World Cup will (literally) kick off Jan. 17–23. Yes, it’s a real event held in partnership with FIFA — and organizers will quickly tell you it’s changing, and has changed, many lives.
International network
“Since 2003, we’ve supported over 1.7 million people to rebuild their lives through football,” the group’s website says. “Across our global network of 75 Member Countries, players move forward into employment, education and stable housing.”
In 2024, Netflix released globally the movie “The Beautiful Game,” which shares a fictional account of a team from England that competes in the real-life annual event.
The idea for the soccer tournament came from co-founders Mel Young and Harald Schmied. The two were reportedly inspired to launch the idea after attending a conference on homelessness in 2001.
As a result, the first event was held in Graz, Austria, in 2003 and hosted 18 teams. Since then, the event has expanded to 64 teams — 40 men’s teams and 24 women’s teams — representing 48 nations that competed in its most-recent event in Oslo, Norway, according to the group’s website. In addition to playing soccer, participants join programs with partner groups to help them rebuild their lives through finding housing, employment and education opportunities.
“We build people’s confidence up and self-esteem up as a result of their involvement — it’s about impact,” said Young in an online interview.
Consistently 80% of the players involved will change their lives forever: come off drugs, get into houses, find sustainable jobs, etc. … “That’s what we’re all about.”
The event, he noted, is “breaking down a barrier, destroying stereotypes and from that, we’re building. It’s happening across the world.”
Need everyone’s help
What’s the ultimate aim of the Homeless World Cup? Young said it’s “to not exist.”
“We shouldn’t have to have the Homeless World Cup in the first place because there shouldn’t be any homelessness,” he noted.
“And that is what our ultimate aim is.”
It’s ultimately, he added, about everyone committing to do “small things well,” he said. “I believe if we all do (that), we’ll change the world.”
