±¬ÁÏÍø

Remarks by H.E. Annalena Baerbock

President of the 80^th Session of the United Nations General Assembly

at the Celebration of the World Football Day 2026

Tuesday, 19 May 2026

General Assembly Hall, United Nations

[As Delivered]

Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

And especially the young diplomats here today.

Please cheer again like you did at the beginning.

This day is especially for you.

And I thank you all for joining this commemoration of World Football Day.

Of course, we all love football.

Otherwise, we would not be here.

And this is the wonderful thing about football: how widely it is loved, watched, and played.

It is truly universal.

You can play it in a grand stadium.

But you can also play it on a dusty field beside a highway.

You can play it in backyards, or in school yards, barefoot or in expensive shoes.

It doesn¡¯t matter what language you speak, the colour of your skin, or what your parents earned.
On the pitch everyone is alike.

And all that matters is only if you can get this damned thing into the goal, if you can take a corner kick well, or ¨C especially – if you are a team player.

The power of sport can almost move mountains.

Yet, sport is not isolated.
It mirrors society.

I would say, ask almost any woman or girl how they came into football in the first place, and surely you will hear some moment or episode where they had to overcome an obstacle, if not setback.

When I was a girl myself in the 80s, women before me in my country fought the battle against our football association to actually be allowed to play.

But there were hardly any girls¡¯ teams ¨C especially in the village where I lived.

So my cousin who desperately wanted to play football, at a certain age when she was told she was no longer allowed to play with the boys, she actually forced everyone in the in the family to join the girls¡¯ team so she could play.

Unfortunately, I was a gymnast, so it didn¡¯t really work out for me on the field.

Luckily, more than thirty years later, even the highest levels of football increasingly recognize their active responsibility when it comes to gender equality and there have been immense strides.

I don¡¯t know if everybody is aware, but how important was the message to women and girls, and not only in Afghanistan, that while the Taliban took away their education, their right to work, or to play sports – that the Afghan Women United is now finally recognized by FIFA as the official Afghanistan Women¡¯s Team, opening the door for these powerful, inspiring women to play, despite the Taliban forbidding women¡¯s sports.

Imagine what more we can do for women¡¯s equality.

This is deeply commendable and I think it can really be a blueprint on what else can be moved by sports.

Because we all know we still have a long way to go.

If women¡¯s teams are expected to carry the same responsibility, represent their countries with the same pride, and inspire the same passion, then it is a little bit difficult to explain to little girls that the men¡¯s team who will win the next football championship right now will have in compensation an amount three times the higher than the women¡¯s team who just won before.

So football shows us not only what fairness can look like, but it also reminds us how much more work we can do if we do it together.

Not only with regard to gender, but in general terms on inequality.

Because it¡¯s hard to call it the world¡¯s game while half the world still has to fight harder for space on the pitch.

So initiatives like ¡°scoring for the goals¡± or initiatives like ¡°give every talent a chance¡± is truly important and I can only encourage everybody involved in football to increase their investments into it.

As a multi-billion-dollar enterprise with global reach, football also carries this special responsibility.

If football unites us, it is in our own interest to do everything to counter what divides us in daily life, including standing up for the rules that make the game possible in the first place.

Nobody in this room and nobody in the world questions that a game lasts ninety minutes.

And that you cannot touch the ball with your hands, except for a throw-in or if you are the goalkeeper.

And even if you are the most famous player in the world you are not allowed to do this ¨C otherwise you are sent off the pitch.

And if you refuse that, you cannot play anymore.

So the lesson is simple: rules make the game.

The game we all love – football.

And without rules, there would be no football.

And the same holds true in these Halls -Our United Nations – built on simple rules like in football, and the understanding that everyone has to play by the rules ¨C no matter how big or small, how powerful, or rich ¨C otherwise there would be no unity, no peace, and not even football.

So, I count on all of you, loving football here today, and loving football all around the world, that you don¡¯t only uphold these simple rules while watching matches at the Toronto Stadium in Canada, or at the Mexico City Stadium, or at the New York-New Jersey Stadium, right here in the United States.

But remind each other ¨C especially after the World Cup ¨C of the lessons every kid learns, as we say in German, in the F-Jugend our ¡®pampers league¡¯, that you:

• Pick each other up, when someone falls.
• That you respect the rules, otherwise you will never win,
• And never, ever forget that even the greatest superstar will not get the world trophy alone.

Because, indeed, we are always better together.

 

Watch Broadcast

World Football Day is a high?level ±¬ÁÏÍø celebration highlighting football’s role in unity, youth empowerment, and global solidarity, featuring ±¬ÁÏÍø leaders, Member States, and the participation of FIFA President Gianni Infantino.