The World Cup starts on Thursday — these photos from around the world show why soccer is the world’s most beloved game

By Mark Abadi From Business Insider

Soccer is the world’s most popular and beloved sport, and it’s played in virtually every corner of the world.
Ahead of the 2018 World Cup, Reuters sent photographers around the globe to document the variety of ways people manage to play soccer.
Soccer lovers play in the dirt, sand, and even snow, and the narrowest of city streets won’t stop them from playing “the beautiful game.”

The 2018 World Cup kicks off on Thursday, and soccer fans around the world are eagerly counting down the hours.

Of course, soccer’s popularity extends far beyond the 32 countries that qualified for the World Cup this year. Soccer is by far the most popular sport in the world, with an estimated 4 billion fans on all six inhabited continents.

Reuters sent photographers to dozens of countries in May and June to document soccer as it’s played around the world — on dirt fields in Chile, the chaotic streets of Kolkata, India, and even a floating field in Thailand.

Here are 18 photos that show why soccer is the world’s most popular game.

Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. You’ll find people playing it everywhere you go, from massive stadiums in Brazil to a quiet street inside the Casbah fortress of Algiers, Algeria.
REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
Source: Reuters

This year’s World Cup, which kicks off on Thursday, is being held in Russia. These children in the village of Yelizarovo have already caught World Cup fever.
Reuters/Sergei Karpukhin
Source: Reuters

Soccer can be played on any surface, from the streets of Kolkata, India, where children play barefoot …
REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri
Source: Reuters

… to a dirt field in Lagos, Nigeria …
Reuters/Akintunde Akinleye
Source: Reuters

… and a sandy beach along the Mekong River in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Reuters/Samrang Pring
Source: Reuters

Even snow is suitable for a quick game — just ask these ski instructors in Sestriere, Italy.
Reuters/Stefano Rellandini
Source: Reuters

Soccer players can turn anything into a field, like this roof of a parking garage in Jakarta, Indonesia …
Reuters/Darren Whiteside
Source: Reuters

… and this floating field in the fishing village of Ko Panyi, Thailand.
Reuters/Soe Zeya Tun
Source: Reuters

No playing space is too narrow for a game, as these children on the streets of downtown Havana, Cuba, demonstrate.
Reuters/Alexandre Meneghini
Source: Reuters

Part of the reason for soccer’s popularity is that you barely need equipment to play. These elementary-school students in Dambai, Ghana, use two trees to mark the goalposts.
Reuters/Francis Kokoroko
Source: Reuters

Soccer is played on all six inhabited continents. The
Reuters/B. Rentsendorj
Source: Reuters

… the Botataung Pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar …
Reuters/Ann Wang
Source: Reuters

… and Vranduk, Bosnia and Herzegovina, where children play inside a 14th-century fortress.
Reuters/Dado Ruvic
Source: Reuters

In places like Santiago, Chile, soccer is closer to a religion than a game.
Reuters/Ivan Alvarado
Source: Reuters

On the opposite side of the globe, soccer is also the most popular sport in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar
Source: Reuters

The majority of countries have never seen their national team play in a World Cup. But the sport remains the passion of fans everywhere, as these children in Bamako, Mali, can attest.
Reuters/Annie Risemberg
Source: Reuters

You don’t even need a full team to play. Here, two boys from south London do some target practice after school.
Reuters/Henry Nicholls
Source: Reuters

Meanwhile, these two brothers from Vienna, Austria, are content to play in their backyard.
Reuters/Leonhard Foeger
Source: Reuters

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