The event in Qatar brought former stars, celebrities and social media sensations together to play in an 11v11 match for charity
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Team KSI x AboFlah defeats team Chunkz x IShowSpeedUSMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino coachedMore than $10.7M raised for charity in contestFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
U.S. men's national team boss Mauricio Pochettino coached team Chunkz x KSO to a tight loss against team KSI x AboFlah at a Match For Hope 2025 in Doha, Qatar Friday. The charity game featured streaming sensations, Youtube stars and former professional footballers themselves in an 11v11 contest.
In an 11-goal thriller, Team KSI x AboFlah found the winner late, after 89th minute winner from streamer Adam Waheed, who drilled the ball into the back of the net with his left boot with seconds to spare. The winners, coached by former Arsenal managerial legend Arsene Wenger, won 6-5.
The match commentators noted that more than $10.7M had already been raised for charity.
"I'm buzzing, 6-5 you know, last minute winner! They came back strong that second half, but bro, that last minute goal from Adam, he doesn't even play football! He calls it soccer! He's right-footed!" captain KSI said after the game. "It feels so good. Fantastic. What a day, I'm so, so happy right now."
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Pochettino's roster included former Manchester City star David Silva, ex-Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta and social media icons Mubarak Mustafa, AJ Shabeel, Thogden, Harry Pinero, Taiyo Kimura, Eman SV2, Samy Chaffai, Manny Brown, FutCrunch, Tobi Brown, Ben Azelart, Bashar Arabi, Luva de Pedreiro, and King Kenny.
The team was led by captain Chunkz, and co-captain IShowSpeed, both streaming and Youtube stars. Pre-game, Speed- who was named GOAL Champions Most Influential Soccer Creator for 2024 – hilariously tried to convince Pochettino to implement a gameplan around him, sharing what tactics to use and more.
The opposition team, coached by Wenger, rostered all of Thierry Henry, Andrea Pirlo and Alessandro Del Piero, along with many other social media icons. The second annual version of the match supports Education Above All (EAA)n which aids out-of-school children. Last year's inaugural match raised more than $9M, benefitting some 70,000 people.
Del Piero was the lone former professional star to find the back of the net, with Juventus' all-time leading scorer finishing in classy fashion.
DID YOU KNOW?
The inaugural version of the game had 35,000 spectators at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium as Team Chunkz beat Team AboFlah by 7-5. An additional 22.5 million viewers and streamers watched last year's match.
Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT?
Proceeds from Friday's event will donated to charity. Pochettino, meanwhile, will now shift focus to the U.S. men's national team, with the Argentine preparing to coach the USMNT in March in the CONCACAF Nations League semifinals.
The U.S. take on Panama on March 20.