when the ball grazed the Finnish goalkeeper, the people in the stands celebrated wildly. But Sienna Jackson stood emotionless on the pitch. The 24-year-old American forward couldn’t believe she had just scored the first goal of the Homeless World Cup, hosted for the first time in the United States.
Just a few years ago, Jackson was sleeping on the streets of downtown Sacramento, less than 5 miles away from the Hornet Stadium at California State University where she was now playing.
“I went from laying out there with the cockroaches, sleeping out with rats, to scoring a goal for my country,” Jackson said.
Organized by Street Soccer USA and its chapter in Sacramento, the Homeless World Cup aims to use the sport of soccer to inspire unhoused people and reshape attitudes towards homelessness.
More than 300 players are competing in the tournament, divided over 40 national teams – 28 men’s teams and 12 women’s teams, hoping to reach the finals on 15 July and getting back into society eventually.
The tournament comes at a time when California is battling a dire homelessness emergency. The state counts more than 171,000 people experiencing homelessness, a third of the homeless population in the US. In 2022, the state reported nearly 10,000 unaccompanied unhoused youth on a single night, the largest number in the country.
California is considered the most unaffordable state in the country, with people earning the minimum wage having to work 90 hours a week to afford a one-bedroom apartment.
