Far from home, migrant children kick off own World Cup in Mexico

Less than 90 days before the FIFA World Cup which will be co-hosted by Mexico, migrants are playing their own soccer tournament in the capital as thousands weigh whether to ​continue their journey north, return home, or settle in the Latin American country.

Since late February, ‌wearing blue jerseys and boots provided by the European Union, hundreds of migrant and refugee boys and girls living in shelters in Mexico City have been training on makeshift pitches for a tournament to be held in late April at a ​sports complex in the capital.

More important than the winner, the project “Goals for Inclusion,” funded by the ​EU, aims to use soccer to promote integration, protection and peaceful coexistence among migrant ⁠children — who are frequently exposed to violence, disease, family separation and xenophobia.

“Sport has no borders. The ball is ​round here or there,” said Joel Orta, a 26‑year‑old Venezuelan migrant whose son, Matías, is part of the ​initiative, which is backed by the Mexico City government, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR and the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration (IOM).

As Orta spoke, Matías, 8, tried to perform tricks with the ball and played with other migrant children in the courtyard of ​the shelter where they live, located in Tepito, one of Mexico City’s most dangerous neighborhoods.

Orta, who has been ​living in Mexico with his family for a year after fleeing the crisis in his native Venezuela, recalled that he ‌himself took ⁠part last year in a soccer tournament promoted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), where, he said, he learned that regardless of life’s ups and downs, one should “never lose hope.”

Since the start of Donald Trump’s second term in January, migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border have fallen sharply. Humanitarian organizations say, however, that challenges ​for migrants have not stopped ​and that around 300,000 ⁠remain stranded in the Latin American country, some without the means to return home or unable to do so because of threats to their lives.

Locals have occasionally ​turned hostile towards foreigners, some migrants say, while obstacles to obtaining legal status have ​grown, pushing ⁠people into working in the informal economy where they often face exploitation.

“Sport is a tool for change, a tool for peace. It helps us build community, it helps us connect,” said Perla Acosta, director of the civil association ⁠Más Sueños, ​which is responsible for the program’s technical implementation.

“Having these integration activities ​allows children to get to know each other better and develop their skills,” she added, explaining that in many shelters children lack ​play spaces and are confined to their rooms.