The World Cup brings the world together. But not everyone gets to celebrate: children and young people living on the streets often lose access to public spaces, experience violence, or are displaced during the World Cup in Mexico. 

Our project »El juego nos une« (»The game unites us«) in Mexico City creates safe play spaces, makes children's experiences visible and promotes protection and participation – during the World Cup and beyond.

Large events like the World Cup often have negative consequences for children and young people living on the streets: Where cities want to present themselves as beautiful, clean and thriving places, homelessness and poverty among children do not fit into the picture.

• Police and city administration are carrying out eviction operations: children and young people living on the street are being forcibly removed from the visible space of the city.
• Places and usual meeting points are being cordoned off or made inaccessible.
• Support services are no longer accessible and fixed daily routines are collapsing.

Furthermore, children experience the evictions even more severely, both psychologically and physically, than adults. "You are not welcome," is the message conveyed to them – and this at perhaps the biggest festival they have ever experienced in the city. 

• Community soccer: Our partner organization El Caracol organizes street soccer tournaments. In safe spaces, children and young people meet, forge new friendships, receive support, and assert their right to play and participate.
• Creative workshops: In participatory workshops, children and young people paint, draw, and photograph. Through art, they share their own experiences, reflect, and formulate demands for the public.
• Documentation: With the support of the CDCDMX (Mexico City Human Rights Commission), El Caracol systematically documents cases of violence, discrimination, and displacement. The collected evidence is made public and shared with authorities and policymakers to demand protection and participation.
• Education: Photos, videos, illustrations, postcards and infographics make the experiences of young people visible and increase acceptance among the population.

Children and young people living on the streets experience the World Cup as an opportunity for connection – not as a reason to exclude and displace them. Their stories, images, and demands reach the public and the media; documented cases of discrimination and displacement are forwarded to decision-makers to initiate lasting change.