• Army team in Homeless World Cup

The Salvation Arrmy Norwegian Street Football men's and women’s teams played in the annual Homeless World Cup this year held in California.

Three players and a coach from The Salvation Army Street Football team in Larvik, Norway, recently joined the rest of The Salvation Army national team for the Homeless World Cup. The tournament took place in Sacramento, California, from 8-15 July.

The Homeless World Cup is an annual, world-class, international football tournament. Every year, teams of men and women who are homeless represent their country during the week-long street football competition.

Teams meet players from around the world during the event.

This year, more than 40 teams from all corners of the world met for the event.

The Salvation Army Norwegian women’s team was honoured with the Fairplay Award at the conclusion of the tournament. “This means that we got the most votes in total from the judges during the entire tournament,” shared the team leaders. “This was well deserved for nice play, many smiles and infectious good humour – both on and off the pitch.

“Both the men’s and ladies team fought hard all week and played matches in temperatures up to 42 degrees. Impressive!”

By taking part in the tournament, players are given the opportunity to travel, often leaving their countries for the first time. They also become part of a global community of players who have faced similar challenges.

The women's team won the tournament's Fairplay Award.

The tournament is designed to be competitive, but its special structure and emphasis on fair play mean that everyone plays until the last day. There are several levels of competition and trophies to win, providing a sense of achievement for teams of all skill levels.

The Homeless World Cup was co-founded by Mel Young and Harald Schmied, who came up with the idea following a conference about homelessness in 2001.

They wanted to change the lives of homeless people all over the world, and they believed football could help them do it.

The first Homeless World Cup took place in Graz, Austria, in 2003 with 18 teams, and the event and network has been growing steadily ever since, occupying a pioneering role in the field of sport and development.