Match Against Poverty

[2] Adopted in 2000 and reaffirmed by the leaders of 191 countries at the UN Summit in 2005, the Millennium Development Goals seek to halve world poverty by 2015 by setting targets for rolling back hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination against women.

The ambassadors, who collaborated in conceiving the yearly event to benefit the United Nations Development Programme, regularly captain their respective teams consisting of active footballers, other professional athletes and celebrities.

[7] In 2013, Global Ambassador and football goalkeeper Iker Casillas helped launch a national website on volunteerism and social innovation in Uzbekistan through the UNDP and Match Against Poverty platform to encourage Uzbek youth to volunteer and become active in sport.

[8] The eleventh match was held on 4 March 2014 at the Stade de Suisse in Bern, Switzerland, with the proceeds going to recovery efforts in the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most devastating storms in history.

[1] Participants of the eleventh match included Robert Pires, Claude Makélélé, Paolo Maldini, Freddie Ljungberg, Luís Figo, Pavel Nedvěd, Marta and Ruud Gullit.

[10] The 12th Match against Poverty took place in Saint-Etienne, France on Monday 20 April 2015, where Ronaldo and Zidane teamed up with other football stars against past and present players of French Ligue 1 side AS Saint-Étienne.

Zinedine Zidane (right) and Pavel Nedvěd playing in the eleventh match in March 2014
Marta , a five-time FIFA World Player of the Year winner, played in the 2014 match.
Ronaldo, who helped establish the series in 2003, and Luís Figo (background) playing in the 2014 edition.