World Football Giving Day to launch on May 26: 'Football can mirror the world or shape it,' says Common Goal CEO

For the first time, on May 26, the global game will come together in one shared moment to give back with the launch of World Football Giving Day.

The initiative is backed by over 100 organisations from around the world with the support of famous names from football including Jurgen Klopp, Juan Mata, Vivianne Miedema, Dani Olmo, Irene Paredes, Jessie Fleming and Sofie Junge Pedersen as well as partners adidas and Right to Dream.

The idea, at a time of growing global division, and ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, is for World Football Giving Day to bring people together to participate and to donate.

It is powered by Common Goal, the initiative launched by Mata in 2017 where football figures pledged to donate one per cent of their salaries. More than 500 have taken that pledge, raising millions for projects around the world.

Now, Common Goal chief executive Mary Connor wants to involve everyone.

"Football can mirror the world or it can choose to shape it," Connor tells Sky Sports.

"At Common Goal, we call ourselves the home of football for good because we choose the latter. We choose to use it to shape it for positive outcomes, particularly for young people and communities.

"Common Goal really made a splash with athletes taking this action to give back but we know in this moment in the world, there's been a reduction of aid to the tune of millions of dollars. Almost half of non-profits are saying their funding situation is unstable.

"We have to take action and we shouldn't leave that action to only the players. That's what World Football Giving Day is about. Providing a moment when everyone who loves the game, everyone who's engaged in the game, which is billions, can do something.

"There's so much to feel helpless about in the world. But actually, we're not helpless. Like we can take action and we can take action through the love of something that does unite us."

Connor is a former professional athlete herself who co-founded Soccer Without Borders prior to her involvement in Common Goal. She understands the power of the game to bring people together.

There is the story of her time in Ninh Binh, Vietnam. "I go to a little bodega. I buy a football. The next day, I'm there juggling with my friend, also a woman. Suddenly, the whole town starts to come out. People are watching. Men join in and play," says Connor.

"Football can challenge assumptions. All of the qualities that would make me other or different or even somebody to be scared of or questioning of, they fade away because now we're literally connected. We're literally playing together.

"And that has happened to me in dozens of countries and sometimes not even when I'm playing, just by talking to somebody in a cab. 'Who is your favourite team? Oh, I am here for the football.' I think it is just that spark of connection."

There is the example of Nicaragua, a country with one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in Latin America, where half of children do not pass sixth grade. "Football can address that," says Connor. By organising girls' football, it has been possible to change things.

"When girls play football, they take such ownership of their bodies. When boys see girls playing football, they see them not just as someone that they want to get involved with in a relationship, but someone who is their peer. It can literally change these things.

"There are thousands of creative ways in our network that people are doing that. They're using coaches to teach about HIV AIDS prevention, malaria, mental health. They are tackling gender-based violence, climate action.

"All of these issues that we know are facing humanity, I guarantee you there's an organisation out there that's found a way to use football to educate, to inspire, to mobilise people to take action."

Connor appreciates that in some respects, despite us never being more connected, the world can feel more divided than ever.

But nothing unites like football.

"We have a Football for Good organisation in Israel, in Palestine, in Eastern Europe, in Colombia. What else other than football reminds us that we are people first. Above language, above culture, above skin colour, all of it, we are people with something in common."

This summer represents a pivotal moment. Launching in the lead-up to the World Cup and aiming to build on UN World Football Day - declared by the United Nations and marked on May 25 - World Football Giving Day intends to become an annual event.

"Our goal is for this to be the start of a tradition and to grow year on year to mobilise resources to where they're most needed.

"And for it to unify."

To take action, head to World Football Giving Day website (www.worldfootballgivingday.org) to donate to any of the 100+ non-profits registered or think of your own way to give back in your local community or globally.

(c) Sky Sports 2026: World Football Giving Day to launch on May 26: 'Football can mirror the world or shape it,' says Common Goal CEO