FIFA President Gianni Infantino has told United Nations (UN) General Assembly members and fellow football fans “today, we are all one team” as part of the World Football Day celebrations within the very first FIFA World Football Week. A joint-proposal by Bahrain, Libya and Tajikistan in May 2024 led to the adoption of UN resolution A/RES/78/281 on 7 May 2024 at the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly and the declaration of an annual World Football Day on 25 May.

The date was chosen to mark the centenary of the start of the 1924 Olympic Football Tournament in Paris, France, which was “the first international football tournament in history with the representation of all regions”, as stated on the UN’s World Football Day website. It also coincides with the decision at the 17th FIFA Congress in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in 1928 to create the FIFA World Cup™.

With FIFA founded on 21 May 1904, and also celebrating its 120th anniversary in 2024, Mr Infantino then proposed a FIFA World Football Week be observed. This proposal was subsequently supported by the Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Ambassador Jamal Fares Al-Rowaiei, on behalf of the co-facilitators of UN resolution A/RES/78/281, while also expressing his gratitude in working with FIFA and the newly-established Group of Friends of Football at the UN “to promote and celebrate the fantastic game”.

In his video message that was delivered to the 2025 World Football Day celebration on Thursday, 22 May at the UN headquarters in New York, United States, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said: “Today, we are all one team. A global team of football fans celebrating World Football Day as part of the very first FIFA World Football Week,” said the FIFA President, echoing the ‘Together, We Are Stronger’ theme of FIFA World Football Week 2025. “Last year, 193 nations unanimously adopted World Football Day at the United Nations General Assembly. It shows, once again, that football unites the world. Regardless of our culture, our language, the colour of our skin or the colours of our shirt, we share an incredible, unbreakable bond: our passion for the beautiful game.”

FIFA works with a wide range of UN agencies and offices, including the World Health Organization (WHO), UNHCR - the UN Refugee Agency, UN Women, UN World Food Programme (WFP), UN Human Rights (OHCHR) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crims (UNODC). Those collaborations are showcased across all FIFA tournaments, including the flagship competitions, the FIFA Women’s World Cup™, the FIFA World Cup™ and the FIFA Club World Cup™, in a bid to raise awareness and further progress towards the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. “Football is universal and football belongs to everyone. Football can change societies and it can change the world. It has already done so in so many ways, and across our 211 (FIFA) Member Associations,” added Mr Infantino. “FIFA is committed to continuing to harness that strength – that power that football has – to promote peace, development, social empowerment, physical well-being and health. “On that note, I hope that you all actively participate in the celebration of both World Football Day and the first FIFA World Football Week. And I wish that you connect with football in order to enjoy and share this amazing sport that belongs to everyone.”

Delegates, many of whom were wearing the shirt of their country or their favourite club and were accompanied by their football-supporting children, heard from Ambassador Al-Rowaiei as well as from Tajikistan Football Federation President Rustam Emomali, New York City Deputy Mayor Camille Joseph Varlack, Permanent Representative of the State of Libya to the United Nations, Taher M. El-Sonni, Alison Qualter Berna, UNICEF's Global Strategic Partnerships Manager for Sports and Entertainment, and Philemon Yang, the President of the United Nations General Assembly for its 79th session.

“In Cameroon, where I’m from, football is a passion. It is more than just a sport. It is a way of life which has brought communities together for generations. I therefore applaud today’s initiative, because football has the rare ability to breach the divisions of language, culture and geography. In times of division and mistrust, football can act as a unifier,” President Yang said. “Football is not just a game, it is a strategic asset in achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, peace and security, and respect for human rights. We all celebrate this asset to humanity. We must also ask how we can use it better for our goals.”