The South Korean street soccer team in training. Photo courtesy of 

With the 2023 Homeless World Cup set to take place in Sacramento, California from 8 to 15 July, INSP is celebrating the crossover between street soccer and street papers. Street papers in seven countries – Argentina, Australia, Greece, Japan, Portugal, South Korea and Switzerland – either have street soccer projects connected to them, or work under the same parent organisation. In some cases, a street paper was borne out of a street soccer team, or vice versa. Let’s learn more.

How street papers and street soccer go together at the 2023 Homeless World Cup in Sacramento

 vendor Paul Nosaghare Igbeque. Credit: Anna Mayr.

Street papers have found themselves increasingly to be at the centre of the refugee crisis. Higher numbers of people selling street papers across different parts of the world have fled from their home countries due to poverty, persecution and conflict. Not only do street papers have the ability to platform their voices and stories, but they also offer a stable income when a place in the mainstream job market may seem out of reach. Their support beyond simply selling the magazine – assisting in applying for documentation and permits, looking for a new place to live, and language classes – means a pathway to integration into what is sometimes a new and unfamiliar society. Ahead of World Refugee Day on 20 June, INSP and its member street papers are helping some refugees – who now work selling street papers – to tell their story.

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How street papers and street soccer go together at the 2023 Homeless World Cup in Sacramento

As the refugee crisis worsens, street papers offer a path to stability and a hopeful future