Raising awareness of Street Soccer’s work around the 20th Annual Homeless World Cup
The Challenge
The Homeless World Cup is an annual football tournament that brings together men and women experiencing homelessness all over the world, uniting them for 10 days of 4-a-side football matches.
2025 saw the 20th year of the tournament kick off in Oslo, and Street Soccer London asked for our help promoting their newly assembled Team England: 8 talented young men from across the UK, all with a unique experience of homelessness.
We were tasked to bring visibility not only to Team England’s presence at the Cup but also to Street Soccer’s vital work – using football as a tool for social change.
The Approach
In addition to PR for the team launch and across the tournament, Street Soccer also required a final sponsor for Oslo 2025.
At Ripple, we’re passionate about social change and community, so chose to sponsor the Away Kit for the duration of the tournament – our funds ensuring Team England could travel to Oslo for the event.
We developed a media strategy that allowed each player and staff member to tell their own story to a selection of our long-trusted media contacts, pitching across TV, radio and press in the UK and internationally.
Working pro-bono, we also offered our production services to the team, acting as Official Team England photographers and capturing a range of stills and videos to be amplified across social media throughout the week.
The Outcome
This year, Team England reached the Quarter Finals following a dramatic penalty shootout vs Brazil. The tournament was a spectacle to behold, and our team feels so lucky to have been a part of it.
We successfully delivered a sustained strategy of quality interviews across national and international media, whilst the month of the campaign saw a daily average increase of 40.8% in website traffic, with the most notable day reaching +154.9% – aligned to coverage going live in The Observer online and BBC Radio 5 Live’s Drivetime show.
Additional hits included a lengthy segment on Good Morning Britain, press coverage in Big Issue (print & online), double-page spreads in The Observer and The Daily Mirror and a multi-page spread in September’s FourFourTwo magazine… Next up, Mexico City 2026!
The campaign has now been shortlisted for Pro Bono Campaign of the Year at The PRMoment Awards 2026.
