Many such players reach the highest levels and some like Ron Barassi, Stephen Silvagni, Robert DiPierdomenico and Alex Jesaulenko are legends of the game.

Some Australian Football League clubs, such as Carlton are renowned for the high number of players of Mediterranean origin.

The Harmony Cup has included teams representing multicultural communities from Albania, Chile, Croatia, Israel, Ireland, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Macedonia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Samoa, South Sudan, Spain, Switzerland, Tonga, Wales, Vietnam and Turkey.

The first Harmony Cup was held in 2004 at Skinner Reserve, Braybrook in 2004, with Israel 8.9 (57) defeating Samoa 1.0 (6) in the Grand Final.

The 2005 Harmony Cup was won by Greece 5.5 (35) over Turkey 3.3 (21) in front of a crowd of 2,300 at Optus Oval in Carlton, Melbourne.