Street Soccer<\/a> for over 10 years, explained the positive impact it has had on his life saying: \u201cThis means everything to me, I was in a bad and dark place a few years back and football through street soccer has brought me right back to the person I was.<\/p>\n“Playing for the country I was born in is a great achievement to me and for my kids to see me on TV, playing something I love doing.<\/p>\n
“I am looking forward to meeting people from different countries and hearing all about their backgrounds and what they came through in their own lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Raziyeh, 39, a refugee from Iran, join Street Soccer for over 6 months ago, is hoping to inspire others on their journey: \u2018\u2019Six months ago, through Street Soccer, I was introduced to the football team. This gave me the chance to make amazing friends from different nationalities, and I really enjoy playing football with them.<\/p>\n
“After that, I was selected to play in the Norway tournament, and I am very excited about this opportunity. Being part of Street Soccer has changed my life in many ways, and I am truly grateful for it.<\/p>\n
“I hope I can continue to make a positive contribution and inspire others through this journey.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Team NI supported this year by Simon Community NI, Choice Housing and others. The tournament will be held at the iconic R\u00e5dhusplassen (City Hall Square) across eight days in August 2025. The Homeless World Cup is a 4-aside tournament with games lasting 14 minutes, with each team playing 10-12 matches in total.<\/p>\n
Justin McMinn, CEO and Co-founder of Street Soccer NI said \u2018\u2019We\u2019re so excited to be taking part in the Homeless World cup again this year and visit such a beautiful place as Norway. We\u2019ve witnessed over the years what a huge impact this event can have on people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n
“Many come back full of motivation and confidence to make positive changes in their lives including getting a house, entering employment, becoming a volunteer and more.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Street Soccer NI works with over 200 people every week across Northern Ireland offering free access to weekly football sessions for men and women. Once players engage in the football they get offered support with housing, employment, education, addictions and more. They currently have weekly sessions in Belfast, Derry\/Londonderry, Saintfield and Coleraine.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s funders include Choice Housing, Simon Community, Ireland for Jesus, Hosford Homelessness Service, Made for Champions, Triangle, Belfast Charitable Society, R&A Consulting, NI Housing Executive, Ark Housing, CFC Church, Queen\u2019s Quarter Housing, Danske Bank and De Paul Ireland.<\/p>\n
Lawrence Jackson, Director of Corporate Services at Choice Housing said: \u201cA key theme of Choices\u2019 Community Investment programme is supporting initiatives that facilitate economic resilience and well-being.<\/p>\n
“The association is committed to providing opportunities for individuals and local communities to development and prosper, and our partnership with Street Soccer NI does exactly that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose taking part get to experience travelling and participating in a great tournament, and more importantly, after they return home each player receives one to one support in key areas of their lives such as finding employment or training and accessing housing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kirsten Hewitt, Director of Homelessness Services of Simon Community Northern Ireland added: “Simon Community has proudly supported Street Soccer for many years, sponsoring the Homeless World Cup teams.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s always a privilege to do so, as we see first-hand the positive impact this opportunity has on those who take part. Experiencing homelessness can be incredibly isolating and being part of a sport where you train and play regularly as a team is invaluable \u2014 not just for physical health, but for building friendships and staying socially connected.<\/p>\n
“We wish both teams the very best as they head off to the Homeless World Cup!”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Street Soccer NI have taken men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams away to the Homeless World Cup in OsloThe Team…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367103,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[1144,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-367102","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-northern-ireland","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115077843805216489","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_1000054241.jpg\")
The Team NI men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams<\/p>\n