On Monday, current and former players and coaches representing the elite of men’s and women’s global football took on an informal ambassadorial role to promote sustainability, gender equality, inclusion and human rights.
They range from league and cup-winning maestro manager Carlo Ancelotti to Women’s Super League and Serie A winner Eni Aluko, Inter Milan hero Javier Zanetti and exiled Afghan women’s national team player Khalida Popal.
The most popular and accessible sport in the world.
Former Argentine and Inter Milan footballer Javier Zanetti
The scale of football makes it an exceptionally powerful communications platform, reaching audiences across all regions, generations and communities.
At the launch of the FFTG initiative in 2022, UN Under-Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed said: “The United Nations recognizes the powerful voice that football has in the global community and the role it can play in raising awareness of the SDGs through the popularity of the game.”
“Football is not only the most popular sport in the world, but also the most accessible”
World Football Day
The FFTG champions were announced on World Football Day, celebrated each year on May 25, a date chosen to commemorate the centenary of the first international football tournament with representation from all regions, in 1924 during the Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
The UN General Assembly passed a resolution establishing World Football Day in May 2024, recognizing the global reach of football and its impact on peace and diplomacy, and recognizing that football creates space for cooperation.
Football’s global popularity and accessibility have made it a powerful platform for public engagement on issues ranging from climate action, health and education to inclusion and gender equality. It is in that spirit that the FFTG Champions program was created.
Football for the Goals Champions 2026