Caio Vilela 

Goal! Children playing football around the world – in pictures

Whether in Togo, Ghana, the UK or Brazil, children love football. This gallery of photographs from Caio Vilela's stunning book Goal celebrates the sport's power to bridge cultural and linguistic divides – it really is a beautiful game!
  
  


Goal cover
There are more than 6,000 different languages spoken on our planet. But children all over the the world understand the language of football. To celebrate the World Cup we have put together this gorgeous gallery of images of children playing football all over the world, from Caii Vilela's beautiful book Goal. Photograph: Caio Vilela
Goal: Togo
Togo: The national football team in Togo are nicknamed the Sparrow Hawks. A teenager from Togo became the youngest player ever to play in a World Cup qualifier. Souleymane Mamam represented Togo in a match against Zambia when he was 13. Photograph: Caio Vilela
Goal: England
England has the oldest national football team in the world, along with Scotland. In 1863, a group of Englishmen formed the Football Association and wrote down the rules of modern football. But games similar to football are known to have been played in Ancient China, Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire thousands of years ago. Photograph: Caio Vilela
Goal: China
China: The national football team of The People’s Republic of China is nicknamed The Dragon or The Great Wall. They have won the East Asian Cup twice, and were twice the runners-up at the Asian Cup. Football is very popular, and it’s possible for over 250 million people to watch a big match on television. Photograph: Caio Vilela
Goal: Ghana
Ghana: The first-ever African professional footballer was from Ghana, whose national football team are known as the Black Stars. Arthur Wharton was born in Jamestown (now called Accra). He moved to England when he was 17, and became a brilliant sportsman. He played for Rotherham Town, Sheffield United and Sunderland. Photograph: Caio Vilela
Goal: Jordan
Jordan: On 7th June, 2013, in a Women’s Asian Cup qualifier, the Jordan women’s football team beat the Kuwait women’s football team 21-0. One of their players, Maysa Jabarah, scored a hat-trick in an amazing three minutes. Photograph: Caio Vilela
Goal: New Zealand
The New Zealand football team broke two records while trying to qualify for the 1982 World Cup. They travelled a record total of 55,000 miles. And they also went a record length of time without letting in a goal. Goalkeeper Richard Wilson managed nine clean sheets in a row, and that year New Zealand qualified for its first-ever World Cup. Photograph: Caio Vilela
Goal map
The map shows all the countries mentioned in the Caio Vilela's book Goal and in the footballs you can find the year each country's national team was founded. Photograph: Caio Vilela
 

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