Muslim Hands Street Child Football Team consists of 8 Pakistani street children supported by ‘Muslim Hands’ in Mirpur, AJK who participated in the international stage of ‘Future Depends on You’ football tournament and won! They have qualified for next year’s Street Child Football World Cup which will be held in Russia before FIFA 2018.

Other than Pakistan; 10 other teams participated which comprised of boys & girls aged between 12-15, from countries such as Brazil, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, India, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Mauritius, Russia (two teams i.e. Orsk and Smolensk). It gave these under-privileged children a chance to display their skills on an international level.

After beating Brazil, Kazakhstan and Georgia, i.e. winning all the pool matches Muslim Hands Street Child Football Team reached the Quarterfinal. Here they faced India and thrashed them 15-0! Next they faced Belarus in the Semifinal and defeated them 8-0.

In the Finals they faced Smolensk of Russia. Both halves resulted in no score. The match was decided on penalty kicks, and Pakistan won 3-2.

The team performed really well throughout and scored 23 goals. Muhammad Abdulla was considered the ‘Best Scorer’.

The event was attended by 35,000 children belonging to boarding schools and orphanages from 140 cities of Abkhazia, Belarus, China, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Russia, South Ossetia and Tajikistan.

Future Depends on You

It is a football event that has been taking place for the past 12 years, and is the biggest project at national level for orphans. It has been successful in giving these children hope as well ample opportunities to prove their worth. It is organized by MegaFon (one of the largest mobile telecommunications company in Russia) with support from Russian ministries of Education, Sports and Foreign Affairs, the Russian football Union and a charity ‘Football for Kids’.