In helping me change escape that I have’
play host for the second time, attracting 160,000 spectators over the week.
The diversity being displayed across the tournament is something to be proud of, as everyone is being made to feel welcome.
Some members participating haven’t always had a love for the sport and Norway’s Icelandic goalkeeper is one of those.
But Rona Jarlsdottir admits she’s fallen in love with the game. Her son is disabled and she had to move to Norway in 2008 as Iceland didn’t have the healthcare he needed. After being diagnosed with MS two years ago, she fell in love with football and hasn’t looked back since.
She said: “My friend got me into football. He saw that I was just an emotional wreck at that time and tried for two years to get me interested. I got diagnosed with MS two years ago, and I think I was just in a phase of denial where I didn’t want it all to be happening. I got to a place where I was thinking, ‘Life can’t be this s**t from childhood to adulthood.’
“I grew up in a harsh background, surrounded by alcohol and drugs, so I needed that kick to change my entire life. It was almost like a crossroads, where you choose all the bad stuff, or you choose to live.
“With street soccer, you’re amongst so many people who have turned their lives around, and I never thought I’d say this, but it’s through them I’ve fallen in love with football.
“You get help there, even just by talking to your peers. You find fellowship because we understand what each other have been through, because it’s hard to understand if you’ve never experienced it.”
The tournament has helped her realise she isn’t alone and she says she has met others who have gone through similar problems.
From a young age, football is all London-born Kristian Campbell has ever known. He’s representing England at the World Cup and has been through troubles of his own. He recently became homeless and has been living in a hostel with football being his outlet.
He said: “From young, I’ve kicked a ball and played the game for teams all throughout my childhood and I’ve recently become homeless. I was living at my mum’s until the age of 20 before moving in with my dad, who passed away three years ago.
“It was then I went into a hostel and I’ve just been there, working hard and trying to keep my spirits up and football is my outlet.
“Football is so important in helping change my life because it’s the one escape that I have. It’s hard to describe it, but I’ve always had a mad passion for the game.
“Any problems you have at home or at the hotel just disappear when you’ve got a ball at your feet.”
Sport can be a stress release from everyday problems and many people tend to forget about their problems once they are playing sport.
Despite it being the first time at such a tournament, Kristian says the experience has been life-changing and, even though his England side lost to a Zimbabwe side, he remained in high spirits.
He added: “I thought the game was actually very good, but also really intense. Zimbabwe had the speed, the power and the technique, they had everything, really. They were so organised and disciplined in both defence and attack, which was key.
“We tried to read their style of play but they kept changing it up and we didn’t react, but it was still a very entertaining game.
“This is my first time at any sort of tournament like this, it’s a life-changing experience for so many and I’m enjoying every second.
“We want to kick on and bring it home.”
It wasn’t an easy journey for the Ivory Coast team. After a tricky visa process, a delayed delivery and a missed flight, the West African team only arrived in Cardiff five days into the competition but got off a to flying start.
In their first game, the first team looked the part, scoring 16 goals.
However, certain team members have had to deal with a lot more than just delayed flights.
Ricard Kone, 17, from Abidjan, was made homeless after telling his family he was homosexual.
He said: “In Ivory Coast, it isn’t easy at all being homeless. Some people won’t talk with you when you try and ask for a little bit of help or a little bit of money. They ignore you, some people get beaten up. It is terribly difficult being homeless in my country.
“I was living on the street because I had some problems with my parents because I am homosexual.
“I have been playing football since a young child. Football is my passion. I just love to play. I don’t think of much else but football at the moment. I think it has helped me to become a bigger person and it has given me the opportunity to travel abroad – first time on a plane and first time abroad for me.”
Competitive sport is about winning and coming first, but in the Homeless World cup, it means a lot more.
It’s about giving chances to those who never thought they’d have a second chance.