90min’s Faces of Football

ABOUT THIS ENTRY

90min’s ‘Faces of Football’ leveraged fan-generated content to create a truly global snapshot of the World Cup consisting of written, video, and social content all stemming from the first-person stories of the fans.

With the help of GoalClick, 90min was able to connect and partner with 32 global football fans (one representative for each country competing in the World Cup) to share their personal stories of fandom and what their national team means to them. Each fan was given the same prompt, ‘write a letter to your national team’ and with the responses ranging from heartfelt, motivational stories to shrewd tactical advice, the one thing that each writer had in common was the powerful and genuine love they had for the game and their team.

How does this represent “Excellence in Engagement”?

“As we think about the forums that unite us as people, regardless of background or beliefs, it is hard to think of many as powerful as the stadiums we fill to cheer for our favorite teams and players, or the fields where we play together for pleasure and exercise” (World Economic Forum).

Sport is one of the few elements of society that creates connections instead of fostering division. Even though there are organizational rivalries and individuals root for different teams or have favored leagues or players, the overarching umbrella of ‘sports’ is almost unanimously a uniting factor in our world.

90min’s ‘Faces of Football’ proves this innate power of sports by showing how one sport, football (soccer), connects 32 different individuals from different backgrounds, cultures, races, ages, economic statuses, and genders. A couple from the US probably has nothing in common with an athlete from Saudi Arabia or a teenager from Belgium—except their mutual love and passion for football.

In creating ‘Faces of Football’ 90min reminded us what sport is all about - bringing people together. And in the truest, rawest form, through the personal stories of the fans, it allowed all of us to fall a little bit more in love with football (soccer).

Objective

In 2022, we saw perhaps one of the most interesting and challenging World Cups in recent history. With the tournament being hosted in Qatar, sports media companies had a slew of new factors to consider when creating their coverage and content plans—not the least of which was the controversy around many of Qatar’s governmental policies.

As a global football brand, 90min decided to combat these challenges by focusing its World Cup content on what they know best—the fans. Having been the voice of the football fan since its inception over a decade ago, 90min took this opportunity to launch an ambitious, multimedia project that solely focused on what makes the beautiful game so unique, the men and women who support it. In partnership with GoalClick, 90min worked with 32 global fans—one representative for each team competing in the World Cup—to create ‘Faces of Football’.

‘Faces of Football’ aimed to leverage fan-generated content to explore the World Cup from a completely new perspective, bringing to light the personal stories of the fans who year after year, match after match, tournament after tournament, continue to support and celebrate their national teams.

Strategy & Execution

90min’s ‘Faces of Football’ leveraged fan-generated content to create a truly global snapshot of the World Cup consisting of written, video, and social content all stemming from the first-person stories of the fans.

With the help of Goal Click, 90min was able to connect and partner with 32 global football fans (one representative for each country competing in the World Cup) to share their stories of fandom and what their national team means to them. Each fan was given the same prompt, ‘write a letter to your national team’ and with the responses ranging from heartfelt, motivational stories to shrewd tactical advice, the one thing that each writer had in common was the powerful and genuine love they had for the game and their team.

‘Faces of Football’ celebrated fans from all walks of life—from a professional footballer in the newly launched female Saudi premier league to an American couple who've attended 257 USMNT games - this project exemplified everything the World Cup stands for.

Throughout the entire tournament, 90min created 32 ‘Faces of Football’ letters (each translated into nine languages), as well as 15 fan videos (translated into five languages) which lived on a bespoke multimedia hub as well as 90min’s social channels.

Organizations

• 90min
• GoalClick

Credits

90min