It’s not just the FIFA World Cup that’s a rich seam of football stories – as we showed in a short film for COPA90.

While watching Iran fall agonisingly short of reaching the knockout stages last night, after a tense 1-1 draw with Portugal, we were reminded of our time filming with Ehsan Abassi last year.

Ehsan was just a young boy when he and his mother were forced to leave Iran for Europe with just a suitcase of belongings.

Our film, one of a series profiling competitors in the Adidas x Copa90 Tango League contest, explored how street football helped Ehsan settle into his new life in Germany.

Ehsan’s explained how he’d found acceptance in his new home and his story served to illustrate the potential of sport to bring people together.

These feel like timely messages as the world comes together to watch the FIFA World Cup unfold in Russia.

 

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