Soccer Aid for UNICEF 2026 takes place on Sunday 31 May at London Stadium, with kick-off at 5pm BST. The match is broadcast live on ITV1, STV, ITVX and STV Player. This year's event marks the 20th anniversary of Soccer Aid, which has raised hundreds of millions of pounds for UNICEF since it was founded by Robbie Williams in 2006.
Teams and managers
England is managed by Robbie Williams, who co-founded the event. The squad includes former goalkeeper Joe Hart, Wayne Rooney, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Theo Walcott, Jill Scott, Jermain Defoe, Alex Brooker, Owen Cooper (the Adolescence actor), GK Barry, Tom Hiddleston, and Paddy McGuinness in goal.
Soccer Aid World XI is managed by Olympic sprinting legend Usain Bolt. The squad features former Netherlands goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, ex-Barcelona and Atletico Madrid full-back Jordi Alba, Dimitar Berbatov, Damson Idris, Maisie Adam, Olly Murs and Lukas Podolski.
20th anniversary
The 2026 event is the 20th anniversary of Soccer Aid, which began at Old Trafford in 2006 when Robbie Williams proposed a charity football match to raise money for children's charity UNICEF. Over two decades the event has grown into one of the UK's most watched annual charity broadcasts and has raised over £100 million in total for UNICEF programmes worldwide.
This year's match is held at London Stadium, home of West Ham United in Stratford, east London.
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This article is for informational purposes only. All facts sourced from publicly available reports at time of publication, 31 May 2026.
Sources: socceraid.org.uk; ESPN Soccer Aid preview, 31 May 2026; ITV press office.
