BASEL SET TO HOST WOMEN’S STREETFOOTBALL EURO 2025
The city of Basel in Switzerland will host the inaugural Women’s Streetfootball Euro 2025 at the Leichtathletikstadion St. Jakob in June (21st – 22nd), with 13 Homeless World Cup Member Countries taking part in what promises to be a powerful and uplifting weekend of football and friendship.
The Homeless World Cup Foundation is a proud partner of the event, with the tournament, being organised by Swiss Homeless World Cup Member Country Surprise Strassenfussball and will be a celebration of resilience, solidarity, and the transformative power of the world’s most loved sport.
Finland Women’s team and Switzerland’s Women’s team at the Seoul 2024 Homeless World Cup
European Homeless World Cup Member Countries taking part in the tournament: Austria, Belgium, France, Greece, Hungary, Northern Ireland, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Wales and guest country Mexico, a South American Homeless World Cup Member Country.
The players participating in the tournament have faced significant life challenges, including unemployment, homelessness, displacement, poverty, or substance dependency.
The Women’s Streetfootball Euro 2025 will feature the unique Homeless World Cup rules that promote teamwork, respect, fair play and offers audiences an exciting and fast paced football experience that is both entertaining and engaging.
Max Schmid, Co-Organiser of the Women’s Streetfootball Euro 2025, said:
“The Women’s Streetfootball Euro 2025 offers a rare opportunity for many of the players coming to Switzerland to travel abroad and engage with new cultures. For some, it marks their first time stepping onto an international stage.
“The tournament aims to raise awareness of broader social issues including gender-based violence, gender equality, and positive masculinity, all while amplifying voices that are too often unheard.
“A series of workshops and community activities will run in parallel with the tournament, designed to strengthen gender equality and social support networks. These initiatives align with wider safeguarding and empowerment strategies in women’s football, aiming to break down barriers, challenge prejudice, and expand opportunities for women to thrive.
“We see football not only as a sport, but as a platform to empower women, from hosting the tournament and talking about these issues, we want to help create a safer and more hopeful future for all women.”
Mel Young, President and co-founder of the Homeless World Cup Foundation, said:
“We are incredibly proud to be partnering with and offering our support to the Women’s Streetfootball Euro 2025 tournament. It once again demonstrates to the world that the power of football extends far beyond the pitch — it can and does rebuild lives and ignite hope.
“For women who have experienced homelessness, poverty, addiction or displacement, football is not just a game — it is a path to standing tall once more. It gives them the chance to be heard, to be respected, and to rediscover their place and worth in society.
“At the Homeless World Cup Foundation, we hold an unwavering belief that every woman deserves the opportunity to live a life of dignity and security and we have witnessed this transformation through our current project in Africa which saw the first Africa Women’s Cup held last year in Tanzania and is taking place once again in Kenya at the end of June.
“This event in Basel is more than a showcase of skill and courage — it is a celebration of resilience and unity. It sends a clear and powerful message to the world, we will continue to work to develop the Women’s game and alongside our Homeless World Cup Member Countries we aim to drive real and lasting social change across the world.”
The Women’s Streetfootball Euro 2025 also echoes the values of other global projects that the Homeless World Cup Foundation is involved with, such as the Football to Protect Vulnerable Women from Exploitation project, a joint initiative between the Homeless World Cup Foundation and the FIFA Foundation. Running from January 2024 to December 2025, the programme engages Homeless World Cup Member Countries across four countries — Vijana Amani Pamoja (Kenya), Future Stars Academy (Tanzania), Bauleni United Sports Academy (Zambia), and Young Achievement Sports for Development (Zimbabwe).
Our Homeless World Cup Member Countries in Africa use football to reach women in vulnerable situations, offering them safe opportunities and meaningful alternatives to exploitation. A recent milestone of the project was the Africa Women’s Cup in June 2024, held in Arusha, Tanzania, which brought together eight teams from across the continent and the tournament will be held in Nairobi, Kenya at the end of June this year (28th – 29th).
Words by Fei Wang