Oslo 2025 through the eyes of an international Homeless World Cup volunteer

The Homeless World Cup wouldn’t happen without our dedicated and talented army of global Volunteers who support tournament year in year out.

As a first-time volunteer for The Homeless World Cup Foundation, I wasn’t too sure what to expect.

My only point of reference for what I might be getting myself into was the Netflix film, The Beautiful Game. Watching the film evoked a range of emotions, from empathy to happiness. It’s a story made up of many that brings everyone from all walks of life together to achieve one ultimate goal.

I went down a rabbit hole, researching the tournament for hours. Finding stories of people who have been involved and seeing the incredible photos of previous tournaments made me want to get involved in any way I could. This is when I noticed there was a tournament this year, in Oslo.

So, I contacted Matthew Williams, the Homeless World Cup’s Lead on Marketing and PR. After multiple conversations with Matthew, my place, at The Homeless World Cup Oslo 2025, was secured. Having to wait four months from securing my place and going to Oslo built up a lot of excitement but also nerves. Not knowing whether the film was line-for-line accurate or differed slightly from the real thing.

I flew into Oslo a few days before the tournament, ready to take it all in. A few days to myself, exploring the city and seeing the venue being put together, heightened the anticipation further; it also heightened some nerves I had been feeling before leaving for Oslo.

I did find seeing the sights of Oslo, which I can say is now my favourite city I have been to, seemed to dampen these nerves slightly, until Friday, the day before the tournament started.

Meeting new people has always been a tough one for me, so arriving in a country I have never been to before and meeting various new faces was going to be a challenge that threw me right out of my comfort zone.

Images from Izaak’s time in Oslo with the volunteer team and people he met in Norway

So, when I first stepped foot in the venue on Friday afternoon for the first volunteer meeting, I was feeling the nerves throughout my body.

Being shown around and introduced to other volunteers, meeting Matt for the first time in person, settled any nerves and got me ready to do my best in my Press Officer role as part of a really talented Communications team at the Oslo 2025 Homeless World Cup. Saturday morning rolled around.

All systems go.

The parade started at midday, building up the excitement for what was about to happen over the following eight days. The coming together of 48 nations, with over 500 players, joined by multiple bands from the Frelsesarmeen.

The singing, the dancing, everyone was there to celebrate the start of fantastic sporting action. As the parade made its way down the Karl Johans Gate, the people of Oslo stopped what they were doing to join in on the carnival-like atmosphere. Following the parade down to the venue, with another member of the Communications team Andi Phillips, who was volunteering at her second tournament after falling in love with the Homeless World Cup in Seoul, we were able to take it all in, but also had countless people coming up to us asking what on earth is going on.

i was only one day into the tournament but being able to share the story and the reason behind the Homeless World Cup was a great feeling, even more so when, further down the line, I recognised some of the people in the stands watching matches.

The Homeless World Cup kicked off, with hosts Norway playing Brazil in the men’s opening fixture and Norway playing India in the women’s. Both Brazil and India had strong teams, and both games got the tournament off to a flyer, with India winning 7-1 and Brazil beating the Norwegians 7-2.

Despite the losses, a theme throughout the tournament, every player at the end of the game would link hands and salute the crowd with a run and jump whilst swinging their arms up to cheer. Showing the real reason everyone is here.

From the first whistle to the final whistle, during the game, both teams do what they can to try and win the game, but before and after, those players enter the pitch, it’s all about camaraderie. After the first day's play, I found myself at a loose end; after seeing so much football played, I went in search of a ball. Up at the food hall, I saw the Argentina team messing around with a ball and using the changing tents as goals. Seeming to commentate on their strikes as they powered into the tent. None of the players spoke English, but after breaking the ice, thanks to Google Translate, I spent the next hour playing keep up and long-range passes. This showed me that football is a sport but also a language; the five of us couldn’t understand each other, but once the ball was in motion, that didn't matter.

Norway and India saluting the packed stands on Day 1 at the Oslo 2025 Homeless World Cup

I would see teams from opposite ends of the globe, laughing and joking together in the food hall. For example, South Africa and Romania seemed to have formed an unlikely bond. The all-singing and dancing Bafana Bafana would stop and say hello to the Romanian women’s team whenever they bumped into them, exchanging high fives and smiles. I was lucky enough to organise an interview with the South African captain, Niyaaz Adriaanse, and his fellow countryman, Dylan Mervyn Esau.

On a very rainy Wednesday afternoon, after four days of glorious football and sunshine, Alice Fremont, a freelance journalist for Radio France Internationale, asked them: “You are known for bringing the vibes with your singing and dancing, what made you want to do this?”. They replied very simply: “It’s important that everyone is happy, and with the good vibes, so this is why we do it.” During this whole interview, they wouldn’t stop smiling.

Another trait I saw from many of the players and coaches I spoke to. The first was Matthew Nathan-Pepple, an England coach, who could be spotted a mile off, as he always seemed to be smiling and on sunny days the light would catch his silver tooth. I wrote a match report on England’s 6-1 victory over Sweden and caught up with Matthew after the game.

He was full of joy, saying, “I am absolutely ecstatic right now, I feel all the patience of planning and training has paid off, and they played beautifully in the first game. I’m happy as hell.” Once the story had been published, I made sure to send it to him so he could share it with his team.

From there, anytime I bumped into him, he would give a massive grin and say: “What’s up, brother!”. Being able to have these little conversations during the day and sometimes after matches opened up a lot and showed how much it meant to all involved.

Team England and coach Matthew Nathan-Pepple (right) who featured in one of Izaak’s reports from the Oslo 2025 Homeless World Cup.

The best way I could describe it is, watching England win an international trophy for the first time since 1966, as an avid football fan I would be singing from the rooftops, but watching these players from every nation celebrate a win or even just one goal, showed another level of happiness, letting you know how much it means for them to participate in the Homeless World Cup.

For them, it could be the chance to move on to the next stage in their lives, to get back on track, or for some people, back in touch with family and friends.

Martin Farrelly, England’s goalkeeper from last year’s tournament, was back in Oslo working with pitch management. Farrelly was struggling with addiction when he got on the plane to Seoul in 2024, but this year, he returned as a volunteer; very proudly stating that he has been 18 months sober, and after losing contact with his family, he has now been on a cruise with his daughter.

Another player I was able to speak to was a Northern Irish player, who I likened to a mix of Matty Cash of Aston Villa, and Jack Grealish of Everton, not just in looks with a top knot and similar facial features, but as player who is quick on the ball and could be part of a swift passing move that led to many goals for The Green and White Army.

This player was Kyle Friel. I had the pleasure of being introduced to him by another great man I met in Oslo, called Michael Boyd OBE. Friel was a very softly spoken gentleman who had a calming demeanor about him. After a little back and forth about the game they had just played against Japan, I was able to speak to him a bit more personally. Asking him how he got involved in Street Soccer and how it is helping him. The Northern Irish forward said: “It was a friend of mine, who actually has been in street soccer a long time, and he was talking about the Homeless World Cup.”

Like myself, Friel hadn’t heard of the tournament before and was urged by his friend to get involved. “I’d never heard of it before, my mate told me to get involved, knowing I’m in temporary housing at the moment.”

The 500+ players at the Homeless World Cup hailed from all over the globe and all had their own story as to why they were here in Oslo. Speaking further with Friel allowed me to discuss why he was here and how street soccer and coming to the Homeless World Cup have impacted him. The soft spoken Northern Irishman said: “At the start of the year I set myself a goal, it’s a big goal for me in taking myself out of my comfort zone more, even sitting here talking to you is way out of my comfort zone, so doing things like this is helping me achieve these goals of mine and I'm really happy.”

Coming into the Homeless World Cup, I thought I’d be writing a few match reports and sending out press releases. But being able to talk to coaches and players, and give them that time in the limelight, was a great feeling. Just like Matthew, Kyle would continue to say hello whenever we crossed paths, and we would have short catch-ups after games. But the best thing to see was his initial reaction to reading the report on the game and his story.

They had just been published, and I caught him reading it on his phone in the stands, after Michael Boyd let me know he had just received it. From a distance, I watched his reaction, and to see the biggest smile run across his face was a highlight of the week.

As the week progressed, the matches got tighter and started to mean even more as the tournament reached the knockout phases.

Northern Ireland’s Kyle Friel in action in Oslo one of the player’s Izaak interviewed whilst in his role as Press Officer at the tournament.

Despite this, every team would play every day, playing for a place up until the very end. The men’s tournament was split into five tiers, and the women’s into three. Tier 1 being the Homeless World Cup, then in Tier 2 teams were competing for the ‘City of Oslo Cup’, Tier 3 was the Salvation Army Cup. Then the extra two tiers in the men’s tournament were playing for the Gatefotball Cup and the Othilie Tonning Cup. In the men's tiers, all five competition finals were separated by only one goal, showing how close and how much every team fights until the very end. The women also saw close affairs throughout the final matches, but one team outshone everyone: Uganda.

Their first appearance in a final and facing nine-time champions Mexico, despite a very successful tournament, Mexico were favourites going into this face off. But the East African nation shocked the world and won 6-0 in a great game of football, paving the way for Egypt in the men’s final to create all African champions for the first time in the tournament's history.

An enthralling game was to come between Egypt, who had defied the odds and beaten five times and reigning champions Mexico twice on their journey to the final, and Portugal, who had shown their strength and skill in reaching the final unbeaten in all 11 of their games before reaching the final. A fan favourite, Egypt's number 4 Sheka, captained his side to victory, confirming African dominance at the 20th Homeless World Cup in Oslo 2025.

Edging slightly away from the footballing side of the Homeless World Cup. In the background, there is an army of volunteers making sure all cogs are polished and working properly every day.

To be lucky enough to be part of this was a dream.

Just like the footballers, we had people from all four corners of the world and all from different backgrounds. Meeting people, I’d of never met if it weren't for this tournament, was amazing, and getting to know them was even better. Sharing such a special moment with some amazing people to help make a change in the world created one of the best experiences of my life, and I’d have to say a massive thank you to all of them.

From Matthew Williams, Dan Tyte, Andi Phillips, and so many more Homeless World Cup veterans, whose help and advice were priceless. To Lewis McKinlay, Michael Puntillo, and Mathieu Melis, who adopted the name ‘The Belgium Matthew’.

All of us were first-timers at the tournament, and whilst I was busy in the comms room, they were keeping the world updated on the fixtures, results, and standings. Creating a good relationship with all six helped me massively in being able to integrate into the team with ease, and also helped me grow in confidence and meet even more people.

I took a big leap in reaching out and getting involved in this tournament, having never gone abroad by myself, let alone to work for such an important organisation that helps to change people's lives. So, besides all the amazing memories, football, and people I met, one thing I have taken away is just go for it, and you will reap the rewards.

Izaak Darvill with fellow Homeless World Cup Volunteer Miles Ananda at the 20th edition of the tournament, hosted in Norway’s capital city in Oslo in August

Written by Izaak Darvill

Images by Anita Milas, Donnie Nicholson and John Anderson