TheMentalHealthWorldCupcomestoWatford

Join Luther Blissett OBE DL, Tommy Smith, and Marvin Sordell as the Mental Health World Cup comes to Watford FC’s Vicarage Road Stadium on Saturday, 10th May 2025. The teams are set. The pitch is ready. Now the team behind the Mental Health World Cup needs the supporters!
The Mental Health World Cup is a 32-team charity football tournament hosted at professional football club stadia. Having been delivered at QPR’s Matrade Loftus Road for many years, this ever-popular charitable event is coming to Watford. Now a charity in its own right, the Mental Health World Cup, was launched in 2012 by Giancarlo Gaglione in memory of his brother Lanfranco. The Mental Health World Cup has become a key fundraising and awareness event for mental health through the channel of football. It provides an opportunity to bring people together – friends, colleagues, and business associates – to raise money and awareness for this critical issue, whilst giving everyone involved an incredible day to remember.
The Mental Health World Cup in Watford is certainly a team effort, with a collaboration of businesses, charities, and groups that have come together to bring this event to fruition. Mental Health World Cup has partnered with Watford Football Club’s Community Sports and Education Trust and WD18 – the Watford Fan Channel, fronted by Charlie Zazzera, Sam Ucko, and Jacob Culshaw. Go Cardless and Total Security are confirmed as headline sponsors, with Celtic, The Grove, Overbury, MCS, and Sale Group making up the sponsors line-up. Watford FC kit manufacturer Kelme is supplying all 32 teams with unique shirts and shorts, whilst local brewery Mad Squirrel has released a limited edition ‘Kick-Off’ beer, with £1 of proceeds going to the charities involved. The benefitting charities are Common Goal, Mind, OLLIE, and Rennie Grove Peace Hospice. All proceeds will be split evenly between these chosen charities.
The thirty-two teams taking part have each been given an international team to represent as part of the Mental Health World Cup, with the group stage being drawn at Watford FC’s training ground back in March by Watford FC players Mattie Pollock and Jonathan Bond. In Group A, the teams are Greece (Riverside Rangers FC), Morocco (Minds United FC), Denmark (Kiss my pass), and Monaco (Robert George FC). Chile (Watford FC U18s), New Zealand (Man On! FC), Uruguay (F. Pashias), and Ukraine (Bray Cottages), make up Group B. Group C has Portugal (Red Hammer Demolition FC), Ivory Coast (FC Bayocelona), Croatia (GoCardless), and Italy (Woodside FC) together. In Group D, the line-up is Ghana (I declare a game of 5’s FC), Algeria (Lads Speak Out FC), Norway (Watford Thursday FC), and Sweden (Gadeside Vets FC). Group E, has Iceland (Deeney in a Bottle FC), Egypt (Mad Squirrell), Argentina (The Grove), and the Netherlands (Watford FC Media Team).
Group F’s teams are Jamaica (Cool Gullins FC), Colombia (Unathletico Madrid), Mexico (Le Saux Solid Crew), and England (TSP). Japan (From The Rookery End), Brazil (2-0 to the Bane FC), France (Watford’s Finest), and Kenya (Roo Army) make up our penultimate group, Group G.
Finally, completing our competitors is Group H, made up of Spain (Kelme), Mali (Voices of the Vic), South Korea (Kick Out The Stigma Andover), and Germany (Burgiss Boys).
Confirmed guests for the Mental Health World Cup include Tommy Smith and Marvin Sordell, who will be playing as part of the tournament, as well as footballing legend Luther Blissett OBE DL, who will be on hand to present the trophy to the tournament victors. On the day, there’ll be a mixture of football action, an auction, food and drink, and a dedicated kid’s zone.
The Charity auction is now live, items can be viewed and bid on at https://superstars-auctions.com/mhworldcup
To join in the fun on the day, you can purchase spectator tickets for £10 at https://tickets.watfordfc.com/ or pay on the door on the day of the event.