Football or Soccer? Claudio Fabiano on the FIFA World Cup

SBS Learn talks with SBS football presenter Claudio Fabiano about the FIFA World Cup™.

Hi Claudio, tell us about your relationship with football - how did it begin? 

I’ve got a special relationship with football, and I think it really starts with my relationship with my family. My Italian parents migrated to Australia separately, my mum from Germany and my dad from Argentina, and I was born here. I remember being very young and going to watch my brother play football with my dad, mum and grandfather, and my sister played as well. We would watch a lot of football on SBS, The World Game on a Sunday after eating at my nonna’s house, sitting down and watching hours of Les Murray’s pick of the week.

My mum made a real effort to take us to visit all our family around the world. No matter which country we were in, whether with my uncle who’s a Bayern Munich fanatic or family who are Boca Juniors fans in Buenos Aires, football was my way of connecting. I didn’t always speak the language well, but football always broke the ice.

And where has this journey since taken you?

I grew up to play at elite levels in Australia and had stints in Germany and in the UK. I had seven surgeries between my late teens and early 20s and missed a lot of playing time. My relationship with the game fell away a little, until I was asked to interview Aex Brosque for a charity called Common Goal. That was the first time I ever did any sort of media work regarding football.

When you’re in this bubble of playing at an elite level, you think that’s the only way you can engage with the game. That day I learned that I could engage differently, and it gave me that same fire I used to get walking out on a field. I found my love for football again through media and broadcast.

In a country as multicultural as Australia, what role do events like the World Cup play in bringing communities together?

Football represents the real Australia. We’ve had First Nations goal scorers, sons and daughters of European immigrants, and now an amazing rise of African Australians as the superstars of our national team. The Socceroos and the Matildas represent real Australia. It’s the most culturally diverse sport and the most gender diverse.

When a FIFA World Cup happens, it brings people together like nothing else. You see it at Fed Square in Melbourne, at Tumbalong Park in Sydney. Community engagement peaks during the World Cup, regardless of people’s backgrounds, whether they were born here or not, and whatever their socio-economic status. It educates us on countries, stories and cultures we may never have thought of before. When you see these countries play, you learn their stories. It’s a really educational month for everyone.

The World Cup also creates those shared cultural moments that stay with you. People remember when Tim Cahill scored against Japan, when Matt Leckie scored against Denmark, when Courtney Vine scored that penalty against France in the Women’s World Cup. You know exactly where you were and who you were with. That’s what the World Cup does. It unites people and it leaves a mark.

What do you think young people can learn through football and events like the World Cup that goes beyond the game itself? 

When you watch the FIFA World Cup, you realise it’s a big world out there. People speak different languages, have different cultures and face different struggles. You hear stories about teams that have gone through massive lengths just to get on the field, like Haiti in this tournament. It’s an incredible story that Haiti even qualified.

Young people get educated about the truths and hardships around the world, and that promotes understanding. On top of that, you can just enjoy the best players in the world playing football. For 90 minutes everything else stops and you feel connected to everyone around you, because we all want the ball to go in that net.

Looking for more classroom ideas? Our resource The World Game explores football through the lens of culture, inclusion and diversity.

For teachers who may not follow football closely, what’s one simple way they could use the World Cup to spark curiosity or conversation in the classroom? 

Draw a team out of a hat for each class and decorate your classroom to represent that country. Learn a little of the language, dress up in their team colours. It’s a really cool way to learn about a country you may not know about.

And this World Cup is very unique for Australia. The Socceroos play Paraguay at 12pm on Friday 26 June. There’s a beautiful opportunity for schools to put the game on. Yes, you can have some educational piece around Australia and around Paraguay, but that’s going to be a memory for all these kids for the rest of their lives. So that’s my call to action for all teachers.

One last question – is it football or soccer?

It’s football, but honestly, call it what you want. Whether you call it football or soccer, it doesn’t change what’s important.

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The FIFA World Cup 26ᵀᴹ kicks off on 12 June (AEST) — with the tournament opener between Mexico and South Africa, kicking off at 5am (AEST). You can watch all 104 games of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ live, free and exclusive on SBS, SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand.