Mexico sweep top trophies as Homeless World Cup wraps up in Seoul

The 2024 Homeless World Cup ended Saturday at Hanyang University in Seoul with Mexico dominating on finals day to claim both the men’s and women’s titles and continue the North American country’s reign as the winning team in tournament history

The Mexican men's team celebrate at the 2024 Homeless World Cup at Hanyang University in eastern Seoul. [HOMELESS WORLD CUP]

The 2024 Homeless World Cup ended Saturday at Hanyang University in eastern Seoul with Mexico dominating on finals day to claim both the men’s and women’s titles and continue the North American country’s reign as the winning team in tournament history.

Mexico’s first trophy came in the women’s competition, beating Romania 5-2 to take the title on Pitch 1 at Hanyang University.

That game was immediately followed by the men’s final, where Mexico faced tough competition from England, eventually pipping the lions to the post for a 6-5 victory.

Saturday’s victories push Mexico’s all-time tally to five men’s titles and nine women’s titles, dominating the competition in both categories.

Lithuania took third place in the men’s competition, beating Indonesia 2-1 in the third-fourth playoff, with Poland edging out Egypt 3-1 in front of a particularly passionate crowd in the women’s competition.

Saturday’s finale ends eight days of football in the Korean capital, capping off the first Homeless World Cup to be held in Asia and the 19th edition of the tournament.

The tournament arrived in Seoul off the back of a bumper year, with hit Netflix film “The Beautiful Game” and Korean film “Dream” both released since the last tournament. FIFA also officially backed the tournament for the first time this year, offering support and equipment and streaming games through the association’s FIFA+ service.

On Friday, FIFA also provided a new trophy for the women’s competition, dubbed the Open Rose trophy.

But while the Homeless World Cup offers some exceptional football — played street-style on a small pitch with four players on at any time and rolling subs — the focus has always been less on the medals and more on the players.

The Homeless World Cup aims to use football to give the players, all of whom have been homeless at some point in the 12 months preceding the tournament, structure and a sense of purpose. But it also aims to change the lives of the spectators by raising awareness about the issue of homelessness and by showing that the players are no different than the rest of us.

The ultimate goal, founder Mel Young regularly says, is for there to be no Homeless World Cup because there is no need for it. Until then, the tournament works to raise awareness and support the players involves.

Over 400 players arrived in Korea for this year’s edition of the tournament, representing 38 nations across both the men’s and women’s tournaments. Many of them are refugees or asylum seekers.

“Anybody is welcome [here],” India’s Nanda Kumar Dorai Chandran told the Korea JoongAng Daily following his team’s game on Thursday. “You just have to enjoy. They don’t ask who are you or what are you doing or how much you got or what you got. No, you just play and enjoy the game.

“I really love that and I’m enjoying every single second.”

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