Cover Students and teachers celebrate World Cup fever at To Kwa Wan's Po Leung Kuk Lam Man Chan English Primary School, tuning in for the South Korea versus Czech Republic match. (Photo: Getty Images)
Students and teachers celebrate World Cup fever at To Kwa Wan's Po Leung Kuk Lam Man Chan English Primary School, tuning in for the South Korea versus Czech Republic match. (Photo: Getty Images)
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From late-night bars in Lan Kwai Fong to a dedicated Cristiano Ronaldo museum, the city proves that a true passion for the beautiful game requires no World Cup jersey
Hong Kong loves football; and while it’s unlikely the city’s players will represent it any time soon at an international tournament like the World Cup, that will never dampen Hongkongers’ love of the beautiful game
I set my alarm for 2am on the morning of July 12, 2021. England were in the final of Euro 2020—an event that, thanks to Covid, had somehow spilled over to the following summer—and I was watching it alone in Hong Kong, 9,000 kilometres from Wembley, in a city that had absolutely no stake in the result. Penalties. Italy. You know how it ends.
What I remember most isn’t the miss, it‘s the conversations the next morning—in offices, in lifts, on the MTR. Locals who had no particular reason to care about an England-Italy final had stayed up for it anyway, and they wanted to talk about it. That is the epitome of Hong Kong’s relationship with football: a city that turns up for the game even when it has no skin in the outcome.
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Walk the back streets of Sham Shui Po or Kwun Tong on any given afternoon and you’ll find kids on concrete courts in Mbappé shirts and Vinícius Júnior jerseys, representing countries they’ve never visited, honouring players they’ve followed since they could hold a phone—football as pure cultural adoption; belonging without borders.
Then consider the numbers. Roughly 690,000 expatriates live in Hong Kong, accounting for close to 10 per cent of the total population. Among them: an estimated 25,000 French nationals, the largest French community in Asia, many of whom will lose their minds if Mbappé goes deep into the knockout rounds; tens of thousands of British passport holders carrying six decades of hurt; Australians, Brazilians, Filipinos, Germans. On any given match day in Wan Chai or LKF, there are 12 simultaneous World Cups perspectives, in the same room, with the same beer.
This city follows individuals as much as nations, and that instinct is what makes the World Cup such a perfect fit here. The tournament’s greatest gift is that it strips everything back to the player—Jude Bellingham driving through midfield, Erling Haaland finally getting his shot after Norway missed Qatar entirely, Mohamed Salah carrying Egypt’s hopes at what may be his final tournament. Hong Kong sees football through that lens better than almost anywhere else.
Read more: Where to watch the 2026 Fifa World Cup in Hong Kong: 5 best places to catch every match
Above Blending advanced tech with the beautiful game, a young fan faces off against a humanoid robot at Whampoa’s World Cup “Robo Cup” event. (Photo: Getty Images)
Blending advanced tech with the beautiful game, a young fan faces off against a humanoid robot at Whampoa’s World Cup “Robo Cup” event. (Photo: Getty Images)
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The clearest proof arrived last July, when a museum opened in Tsim Sha Tsui dedicated entirely to one man. The CR7 Life Museum—Asia’s first—occupied 12,000 sq ft of K11 Musea, displaying Cristiano Ronaldo’s Ballon d’Or trophies, his Golden Boots and a replica of his childhood bedroom in Madeira, among other exhibits. Queues stretched around the building. Ronaldo himself showed up unannounced one evening, to the kind of reception normally reserved for heads of state. The museum ran for nearly a year and closed earlier this month. Now, the 41-year-old star is playing in the actual World Cup, representing Portugal on the biggest stage of all. Hong Kong spent 12 months venerating the man on home turf, a time during which he faced a three-match suspension from international games and was on strike for a bunch more with his current team; now it gets to support him again, and in what could be his last World Cup outing.
A city that builds a museum dedicated to a foreign footballer and fills it with fans for a year has made its position clear: the sport belongs to everyone.
Above David Beckham captures a moment with fans at Happy Valley Racecourse’s “Racing with Football” crossover event, igniting pre-World Cup excitement across Hong Kong. (Photo: Getty Images)
David Beckham captures a moment with fans at Happy Valley Racecourse’s “Racing with Football” crossover event, igniting pre-World Cup excitement across Hong Kong. (Photo: Getty Images)
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I still want England to win. That alarm at 2am, those penalties—that heartbreak doesn’t fade just because you’re living six time zones from Wembley. Loyalties don’t respect geography. But what Hong Kong gives you—whether you’re a die-hard fan cheering on the “home nation” from thousands of kilometres away or a team-less fanatic of the beautiful game as a sport, a concept and an art—is perspective. If—and when—your team goes out, there is always another one to support; another story to follow. Here comes Haaland. Here comes Yamal. Here comes Bellingham, steaming into the box with the kind of confidence that makes you believe something is actually going to happen this time.
Hong Kong doesn’t need a team in this World Cup. It has all of them.
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Pete Laverick is a sports and lifestyle journalist for Tatler Hong Kong. A former professional rugby player, he brings an athlete’s perspective to his coverage of the city’s sports and fitness scene. A committed fitness enthusiast, Pete is always testing something new—from Hyrox to marathons and triathlons—writing with the first-hand insight of someone who has lived at the top level of sport. He also has a standing invitation from Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeannie Buss to watch the Lakers at the Crypto.com Arena if he makes it to California.
