The FIFA World Cup is more than a global football competition. It is a major social, cultural and economic event capable of influencing aspirations, investment priorities, public policy and the way in which communities understand themselves and one another. The 2026 tournament, hosted across Canada, Mexico and the United States, creates a distinctive platform from which to examine how football’s global appeal might generate a deeper and more durable benefit for young people and communities.
This Soccerwise 2026 FIFA World Cup Legacy Impact Report presents the Youth Charter’s contribution to that debate. It brings together the organisation’s 33-year Games legacy experience, the development of Soccerwise, community case studies, the Community Campus Model, the Social Coach Leadership Programme and a Legacy Cultural Framework aligned to social, cultural and economic outcomes. It also reviews areas of FIFA’s development activity to identify where the Youth Charter’s models may offer complementary local-delivery capacity, subject to consultation and formal partnership.
From football inspiration to community progression
The report begins from a central distinction: elite football and major tournaments can inspire, but communities require organised pathways if inspiration is to become participation, learning, wellbeing, employment or leadership. Soccerwise is intended to provide that bridge. It uses the universal accessibility of football - from informal street play and small-sided games to schools, clubs, academies and stadia - as an entry point into a broader process of personal and community development.
The pathway may be summarised as follows: football inspires; Soccerwise engages; Social Coaches equip; Community Campuses provide a place-based platform for deployment; education, employment and enterprise empower; and the Legacy Cultural Framework supports measurement and sustainability. This places the young person at the centre while recognising that positive outcomes depend upon relationships between families, schools, community organisations, clubs, governing bodies, public agencies, universities and employers.
Evidence, experience and continuing relevance
The report draws on the Youth Charter’s experience of using football in communities affected by disadvantage and division. The Moss Side Amateur Reserves case illustrates football’s potential to reduce territorial fear and build shared identity. The Dale United and related Rochdale work highlights the importance of progression routes and local infrastructure. The South Africa experience demonstrates the value of sustained international engagement extending beyond the staging of a World Cup. References to Premier League Kicks, Arsenal’s No More Red initiative, UNICEF, the FIFA Foundation and other football-development programmes place the Soccerwise proposition within a wider field of practice rather than presenting it as a stand-alone solution.
The proposed delivery architecture
At the heart of the report is the proposal for a network of Soccerwise Community Campuses. A Community Campus is not necessarily a single new building. It is a coordinated network of existing local facilities - such as schools, youth clubs, community centres, sports facilities and further or higher education institutions - working through common standards, trained people and shared outcomes. Its offer is expressed through three practical commitments: somewhere to go, something to do and someone to show them.
The “someone” is the Social Coach: a trusted adult equipped to combine activity leadership with mentoring, safeguarding awareness, life-skills development and progression support. Through the Social Coach Leadership Programme and SCLP Academy, existing teachers, coaches, youth workers, volunteers and community leaders may be inducted, developed and recognised for their contribution. Digital tools may support learning, records of achievement and the mapping of participation and outcomes, provided that implementation includes appropriate governance, safeguarding and data-protection controls.
A framework for measurable legacy
The report’s Legacy Cultural Framework identifies five connected impact themes: education; health; citizenship; environment and community cohesion; and progression into further and higher education, employment and entrepreneurship. Collaboration, partnership and equality, diversity, inclusion and participation underpin these themes. Their alignment with relevant United Nations Sustainable Development Goals provides a basis for common language and comparative reporting, but credible impact will require clear baselines, indicators, responsibilities, independent assurance and long-term evaluation.
Accordingly, this report should be read as both a record of experience and a strategic proposition. It does not claim that the proposed Soccerwise World Cup legacy network has already been adopted or funded. It invites FIFA, the FIFA Foundation, host-city interests, member associations, football foundations, public bodies, education partners, communities and investors to test the model through structured dialogue and demonstrator activity. The desired result is a practical legacy in which football’s global moment is converted into sustained local capacity and measurable opportunity
