The comeback of street soccer From nss sports to Lack of Guidance, brands and communities have been organizing so many tournaments lately

Alongside the initiatives related to "real" football—11-a-side—currently in eager anticipation of the 2026 World Cup in North America (an excitement sweetened by the recent Club World Cup), many brands and communities are trying to bring football back to the streets. Nike, Lack of Guidance, nss sports are just a few examples of brands and communities that have organized tournaments on concrete pitches, giving rise to an alternative version of traditional football. A version that, more than ever, brings people together through the game and blends lifestyle seamlessly into the sport.

After all, the matches played in the streets of the world’s major cities align perfectly with one of the main goals of many brands: creating connections between sport, lifestyle, and diverse cultures. If that’s the case, then street soccer is the perfect vehicle to merge clothing, accessories, and the style of amateur players with the actual game—and vice versa. Just think about how street soccer is played on hard surfaces, where low-top sneakers fit in much more naturally: this may well be the strategy behind Nike’s release of the T90s with flat, indoor soles and no studs. And street soccer, at its core, is about joy—free, unregulated football that thrives outside the rulebook.

The desire to bring football back to the streets is alive and growing, side by side with one of the most important sporting events of all time, where the global excitement and anticipation will draw thousands into the streets—thanks to breathtaking locations and, most importantly, the shared will to move past the controversial chapter of Qatar 2022.

Let’s take a look at the most recent street soccer tournaments played around the world.

nss sports: Les Vêtements de Football – The Golden Age of Football Jerseys

nss sports, along with Soccertes, Bowery FC, Wavy Footy, Classic Football Shirts New York, Camp 3x, and The Chinatown Soccer Club, were the teams that took part in the street soccer tournament organized by nss sports in New York to mark the launch of Les Vêtements de Football – The Golden Age of Football Jerseys. The tournament was held at the iconic rooftop pitch The Ground, located in the heart of Chinatown.

The rules were simple: two groups of three teams each, where all teams faced off within their group before playing three cross-group finals. No fouls, no referees, no cooling breaks—just the sound of the train crossing the Williamsburg Bridge, towering over the pitch.

Lack of Guidance & PUMA

In Europe, Lack of Guidance, in collaboration with PUMA and Versus, took over the streets of Amsterdam with a street soccer tournament. At stake was a €5000 prize pool and a 5-a-side format—different from the one proposed by nss sports, who opted instead for a 3-a-side tournament with no out-of-bounds or formal rules.

Nike – Cage Tournament with Travis Scott

The moment we realized street soccer was truly shifting came with one of the Cage Tournament events organized by Nike together with Travis Scott—specifically, the most iconic and hyped stop: the one held on the eve of El Clásico between Real Madrid and Barcelona, the match that decided La Liga. Although, to be fair, the Coachella-based event was just as impactful, signaling a clear break from the past for the Swoosh.

This series of events actually began back in October 2024 with the Cactus Colosseum at ComplexCon, and was followed up in November of the same year. It was then that the Total 90 III boots were first teased—on the feet of none other than Edgar Davids.

More street soccer all around the world

The Scugnizzo Cup held in Naples is yet another unique example of street soccer around the world—but how does it work, and where exactly does it take place? The Scugnizzo Cup is a five-a-side football tournament held in Naples, with the aim of combining sport, social inclusion, and the promotion of the city's historic neighborhoods. Now in its sixth edition, the competition takes place within the former Filangieri juvenile prison, which has been transformed into a social and cultural center known as Scugnizzo Liberato. The matches are played inside an actual building that once served as a prison. It's a surreal setting for a football tournament: the pitch is nestled in the courtyard, surrounded by high walls that echo stories of a very different past.