For many, migration is foundational to what makes football meaningful. Professional teams around the world bring together players from very different backgrounds, many of whom are also migrants.  The U.S.’s Major League Soccer, for instance, claims to have players from 79 different countries in its ranks. 

National teams who play in the World Cup often include many players of immigrant backgrounds. The make up of many European teams, for instance, showcases the legacies of colonialism and post-colonial migration. The French team famously has long been led by players such as Zinedine Zidane, whose parents migrated from Algeria, and more recently Kylian Mbappé, who is of Algerian and Cameroonian background. In France and elsewhere in Europe, the presence of players of immigrant backgrounds has made football a stage for debates about migration and national identity. This complicates the idea that a World Cup is a neatly drawn series of contests between homogenous nations. 

For more than a century, football has opened up international work opportunities to gifted players. However, these often confront racial, class, and gender barriers. As early as the 1920s, South American players leveraged their performances to land professional contracts in Europe, though the Afro-Uruguayan star José Andrade found the door shut to his migration because of racism. Today, however, most European professional teams include many players from the Global South. Thousands of players also move in different ways outside of Europe, from Nigeria to Turkey, from Argentina to China, and from Japan to Brazil.

While a small number of these reach the elite levels of the sport, most labor in less luxurious conditions, often with relatively low pay. Many youth academies and unscrupulous agents with insufficient oversight from federations also exploit young players with promises of residency and work permits and professional careers that never materialize. 

Women athletes’ migration has been restricted by the historical underdevelopment of the sport, though this has begun to change. In 2004, the Brazilian legend Marta found a chance for a professional career in Sweden, while she waited for the rest of the world to catch up. Today, Marta plays in the U.S. National Women’s Soccer League, which increasingly showcases players from around the world, with a notable influx of African superstars in the past several years. 

Football clubs have also played a role in maintaining community relationships in immigrant communities around the world. Club Palestino in Chile, for instance, provided a vibrant social space for members and helped change the image of Arab Chileans in the popular imagination. In the U.S., Latinx immigrants often animate and revitalize their communities through football. During international tournaments, notably in the U.S., it is fans from immigrant communities rooting for their nations of origin who often bring particular joy, pageantry, and style to the stadium.