The FIFA World Cup 2026 is now underway, and football is once again at the centre of attention around the world. But away from the big lights and global headlines, there are people using football in quieter, powerful ways to build community and drive social cohesion.
Listen to Australian and world news and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts.
TRANSCRIPT
It's more than a game.
According to the former President of Liberia - and an ex-professional footballer George Weah [[WEE-ah]], football is a universal language. It brings people together, irrespective of their nationalities, cultures or beliefs.
And here in Australia, people are using the sport to build social cohesion - and SBS Audio is telling 12 of those stories through its series, Beautiful Game Changers.
One of them is Labin Gurung, who arrived in Australia from Nepal as a student in the mid-1990s.
He helped establish Sagarmatha Football Club in south-west Sydney, a place where newly arrived Nepalis could find connection and belonging.
“We try to accommodate them, we help them in finding jobs. we try to keep them away from, being lonely or being isolated from home. Through football, we try and reconnect them with the society.”
Over time, Sagarmatha began noticing a growing problem in the community, gambling addiction, especially among newly arrived men.
“When we have someone who is suffering from a gambling problem in our club, we take it very seriously and we try to take it professionally as well. We try not to let other members know about his problem.”
While some clubs serve as a private support network, others use the game to define a public identity.
Alison Todd and Tracey Atkinson were among the women who helped establish the Flying Bats Football Club in Sydney’s inner west in 1985.
“We decided that we'd like to do some sort of activity to keep ourselves healthy and we thought about, ‘Why don't we do soccer?’]]
Today the Flying Bats says it is the world’s biggest LGBTQIA+ women’s and non-binary football club.
For Allira Toby, football is also tied to identity.
Allira is a proud Kanolu and Gangulu woman from Ipswich in Queensland. She played football at the highest levels in Australia. Now she is helping create pathways for the next generation.
“I think the closest thing for me was Kathy Freeman, which I mean probably sounds so cliche, but you know, I guess being an Indigenous girl growing up there wasn't many people that look like me on television.”
Today, Allira works with John Moriarty Football, helping deliver football and wellbeing programs to 5,000 children each week, including in remote communities.
She says football can open the door, but only if children can see opportunity in front of them.
“If there's representation and there's opportunity and there's pathways that really open the door and change perspectives.”
Sulaiman Zandinan is a Yazidi refugee who now referees in Queensland’s top men’s and women’s state leagues.
He was just 12 when the Islamic State group attacked his community in Sinjar.
“They destroyed everywhere. They killed thousands of people. They took me and 30 people from my family members.”
After escaping with his family and settling in Australia, Sulaiman found a new way forward through football.
Now he helps other Yazidi families as they begin life in a new country.
“I want to show them that you have help you can reach if you need help and not just myself. There are many other people like me and better than me available and helping our community.”
Fatima Yousufi, a former Afghan national team football player who fled Kabul in 2021.
She stands in goal for Afghan Women United, who returned to international competition in 2025.
Now living in Australia, she is rebuilding her life through football and carrying a message of hope for girls still in Afghanistan.
“We can give that hope for all those girls who are in Afghanistan and thinking like, you know, nothing will change, but there will be a hope. And that's our message always.”
These are just five of the 12 stories in the Beautiful Game Changers series.
To watch and listen to all 12 stories, head to sbs.com.au/beautifulgamechangers or find them on SBS On Demand.
And for the latest World Cup news, check out SBS News Headlines, wherever you get your podcasts.
