The Homeless World Cup, shown here in Paris in 2011, will take place at Sacramento State from July 8-15, 2023 and is the first to be held in the United States and the first on a university campus. (Courtesy Homeless World Cup)

A global foundation with the goal of realizing a world without homelessness has come to Sacramento.

The Homeless World Cup Foundation is a social organization that uses soccer to inspire and change perceptions of the unhoused.

Its signature event, the Homeless World Cup was first played in Graz, Austria, in 2003 and has been hosted in Mexico City, Paris, Cape Town, Copenhagen and more.

This past weekend, Sacramento began hosting the weeklong competition among athletes who have been homeless within the past two years. It is the first time the annual event has been held in the U.S.

These are not the typical soccer games with 11 players per team, but more street-style games that will be fast-paced, four-on-our matches of men, women and coed teams.

Due to pandemic restrictions, many countries will compete for the first time since 2019. Ukraine, Pakistan, Brazil, Indonesia and more are appearing again. Five hundred athletes will compete this month at California State University, Sacramento. One hundred thousand players are in member training programs in other participant countries.

Lisa Wrightman, a U.S. women’s team coach, told the New York Times about her former experience competing in the Homeless World Cup and how it changed her life.

Wrightman competed in 2010 in Rio De Janeiro, where she got her life back on track after she fell into abusing drugs and alcohol.

“We didn’t have to pretend like we didn’t have our history. Everybody at that tournament had that history — that’s why you’re there,” Wrightman said.

According to federal data, the number of homeless people in Sacramento County rose to 9,278 from 5,570 in 2019.

James McKeekin, the chief operating officer for the Homeless World Cup Foundation, told the New York Times that the games are being held in Sacramento because of the cooperation from business leaders, regional officials and Sacramento State.

SportsBetting.ag listed the countries with the best odds for the 2023 champion in both men’s and women’s tournaments.

Mexico is the favorite for the men’s side after winning the last two Cups and four out of the last five overall.

The women’s side also favors Mexico — winner of five straight titles. 

Chile and Brazil have the second and third-best odds for each bracket.