Korea beat Germany 4-0 in opening game at Homeless World Cup

The rain clouds cleared just in time for the 2024 Homeless World Cup to kick off Saturday at Hanyang University in eastern Seoul, with 450 players representing 38 nations in the 19th edition of the annual tournament.

Korea's Fossi Wandji, left, competes for the ball during the opening game of the 2024 Homeless World Cup against Germany at Hanyang University in eastern Seoul on Saturday. [HOMELESS WORLD CUP]

The rain clouds cleared just in time for the 2024 Homeless World Cup to kick off Saturday at Hanyang University in eastern Seoul, with 450 players representing 38 nations in the 19th edition of the annual tournament.

Hosts Korea started the men’s competition after a rain-delayed parade of nations and opening ceremony, beating Germany 4-0 on Pitch 1 with the very first goal of the tournament scored by Korea’s Fossi Wandji.

“I’m happy because we won the game and I’m happy with how the team played,” Wandji said after the game. “After I scored and my teammates scored I wanted to defend to make sure we won the game.

“I think we will get better in our second match. I hope we can win the next game and go on to win the Homeless World Cup.”

The women’s competition opening game went to Romania, beating Sweden 7-0 to take an early lead in the competition.

Elsewhere it was a day of upsets in the men’s competition — Homeless World Cup football, or street football, is played over two seven-minute halves on a smaller pitch, allowing for a large number of fixtures to be stacked up on any day — with South Africa shocking the Homeless World Cup’s winningest team Mexico 1-0, Ireland besting two-time winners Brazil 1-0, and the USA beating Portugal 3-1 on a penalty shootout.

England men edged past long-time rivals France in a high-scoring 12-9 game, with England’s 12 goals also accounting for the biggest single-team score of the day. The biggest win of the day went to the Danish men’s team, who beat Greece 11-0.

The Argentinian team takes part in the parade of nations at the 2024 Homeless World Cup at Hanyang University in eastern Seoul on Saturday. [HOMELESS WORLD CUP]

This year marks the first time that the Homeless World Cup has taken place in Korea, the first Asian country to host the annual tournament that was started in 2003 by the Homeless World Cup Foundation that aims to “shape attitudes toward the global issue of homelessness, using the universal language of football.”

Mexico has historically been the winningest team in both events, with four titles in the men’s and eight in the women’s. The country’s men's and women’s are both ranked at No. 1 on the Homeless World Cup rankings.

But those stats are not entirely relevant to this year’s World Cup, as those who participated in previous competitions are not allowed to compete again.

Every participating country features an entirely new field of players at all tournaments, who are all required to have been homeless at some point since the previous year’s tournament.

The tournament runs with different rules to ordinary football, as only four players — three outfield and a goalkeeper — are on the pitch at any one time. Each match also lasts for 14 minutes, in two seven-minute halves. It is, at its heart, street football, with the boundaries of the pitch marked by walls that players can bounce the ball off and rolling substitutions.

The competition will last through Sept. 28, with both the men’s and women’s finals to take place on the last day. All games are free to attend for spectators in Seoul, or can be watched on FIFA+ globally.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]