Skis for goalposts and flip flops for boots: The beautiful game beyond the World Cup

‘I would like to emulate Messi but playing with ski boots, I will be more likely to emulate the former ski champion Alberto Tomba’

Children playing football on a floating pitch in the fishing village of Ko Panyi, Thailand (Reuters)

As Russia’s carefully manicured fields take centre stage for the next month of World Cup action, people around the globe are playing football on a surprising variety of makeshift pitches.

Off the coast of an island in southern Thailand, they play on a floating platform; in the mountains of northern Italy, they kick about in the snow – images captured by Reuters photographers around the world.

On a dusty Kolkata street, painted with a 2018 World Cup logo, Indian schoolchildren brave the traffic for a barefoot game.

“We play when we get time and whenever the road is empty,” said 13-year-old Papan Mallick.

He is a fan of Argentina’s Lionel Messi, while Suchan Pakre, 12, worships Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo. They will both be watching the action in Russia, as will Lorenzo Richetto, who uses skis for goalposts as he enjoys a match on the snow with his friends at the Italian ski resort of Sestriere.

“I would like to emulate Messi but playing with ski boots, I will be more likely to emulate the former ski champion Alberto Tomba,” said the 46-year-old.