Boxing champ Usyk to play for World football team alongside Terry, Kaká, and others

Among the football stars

The match will take place in Lisbon on Monday, September 15. Legendary players from the Portugal national team and the World Legends team of global stars will take the field. Usyk will be the only participant who is not a former footballer.

"Everyone else playing is a former footballer, but when Oleksandr Usyk asks if he can play, you say yes," emphasized Rasmus Sojmark, founder and CEO of Sport Global.

Who will play alongside Usyk

The World Legends team will feature well-known footballers such as Edwin van der Sar, Petr Čech, John Terry, Michael Owen, Carles Puyol, Roberto Carlos, Kaká, and others.

Their opponents will be legends of the Portugal national team – Luís Figo, Ricardo Quaresma, Nani, Pepe, Deco, Nuno Gomes, and other stars.

Purpose of the match

The event has a charitable goal – raising funds to support communities affected by the war in Ukraine and other countries.

Earlier, Usyk received a postponement from the WBO for organizing his next title fight due to a back injury.

Usyk and football: What is known

The current undisputed world heavyweight boxing champion has an active contract with the Ukrainian Premier League club Polissya (Zhytomyr).

At the beginning of 2022, he took part in a team match, coming on as a substitute in a game against Rivne’s Veres in the Winter Cup friendly tournament. On the 77th minute, Oleksandr replaced striker Pylyp Budkivskyi.

On Polissya’s official website, Usyk is listed as part of the team. In the player roster, he appears as a forward wearing number 17. However, in the club’s official squad list on the UPL website, the boxer is not included.

Earlier, we reported that Usyk participated in the premiere of the sports drama Unbroken, in which he played a role.