How Gibraltar won the World Cup at QPR - and helped to prevent suicides in the process

Not everyone will know it yet, but there’s a World Cup taking place in England this year. Two, in fact – and Gibraltar are the reigning champions.

The Mental Health World Cup began in 2012, following a personal tragedy endured by co-founder Giancarlo Gaglione and his family. Now, over a decade later, it gives hundreds of players the chance to represent the country of their choice and play in some of the nation’s biggest stadiums, raising huge sums of money along the way and helping to improve awareness of issues surrounding mental health.

“I lost my youngest brother to suicide in February of that year,” Gaglione explains. “It was a real shock to me and my family. We didn’t have any inclination he was suffering. He hid it really well.

“It was very hard to get people to talk about mental health, so me and my brother came up with the idea that if we could get people together and provide them with a really cool experience, whilst we’ve got them together we could talk to them about mental health and the charities that are out there to help, and try and remove the taboo that surrounds talking about suicide.”

Breaking down barriers through football

The concept was to host a “World Cup in a day”, with five-a-side teams all gathering to play a quickfire knock-out tournament, raising money along the way. Early editions were hosted in conjunction with Arsenal In The Community, taking place at the Emirates Stadium’s seven-a-side pitches, but the need for more space led them to QPR in 2018, where they were able to strike an agreement to play on the pitch of the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium during the off-season.

Teams enter, pick a country to represent, and work to raise as much money as possible from sponsorship. The 2024 edition, which was won by Gibraltar - or at least their generous proxies from a local mechanical services company - involved 48 teams playing 151 matches, was seen by around 1,500 spectators and raised nearly £200,000 for charities which work in mental health and suicide prevention.

“It’s organised chaos,” Gaglione chuckles. “When you get 400 footballers, there’s always one or two that get a bit excited or a bit heated! But it’s a great family atmosphere.

“It’s nice to have a different channel to talk about mental health and football’s a great one because people love football and want the experience of playing on the pitch and whilst they’re [doing that] we get to subtly tell them about lots of mental health charities out there.

“We have a variety of talks as well, people giving chats from personal experiences or about their charity and the work that they do… We’ve heard lots of stories down the years about those type of moments where someone has been influenced by the work that we’ve done and taken a different course of action.”

Now, in 2025, the Mental Health World Cup is expanding – not only will it return to QPR for the sixth time on 16 May, but an additional event will be hosted at Watford’s Vicarage Road six days earlier on 10 May.

One of the charities that will benefit from the new event at Watford is The OLLIE Foundation, which was co-founded by Chris Sibley and which helps to connect local communities and schools with emotional well-being, mindfulness and suicide prevention services.

“It was started by myself and two other parents in 2016 because we lost children to suicide,” Sibley told 3 Added Minutes. “We met at a bereavement support group and decided we had to do something to make a difference.

“I’m only in this world [of suicide prevention] because my son took his own life. That throws you into a place where you very quickly learn a lot… It’s about fundraising, but for me as a dad who lost a son, while without funds we can’t do what we do, what’s more important to me is sharing the knowledge.

“In my own experience, some of the knowledge that we’re able to share, if I’d know that before my son died, it actually might have made a difference… I just want to share this knowledge with people in the hope that they never need it. My hope is to raise awareness so as many people as possible can access what we offer and help themselves or friends, families, strangers, whoever it might be.”

‘The best day of my life’

To encourage spectators to come and watch, donate and hear about the work done by the various charities that are supported by the Mental Health World Cup, there’s plenty else going on besides the football matches.

Not only are there events to participate in on the pitch, which last year included a children’s training session, a crossbar challenge and more, but some of the host clubs’ former players get involved, too – at QPR last year, a legends match was a part of the programme, while some former Watford stars will be auctioned to the participating teams should they feel the need for a little help. Former Hornets striker Marvin Sordell is among the players who have confirmed their involvement.

Perhaps the biggest draw for participants, however, is the chance to play on a professional pitch, often at the home of their local club. Sibley recalls having the chance to play at Brighton & Hove Albion’s former ground as a young man.

“As a twenty or thirty-something footballer, playing on a professional pitch – oh my god, it was like the best day of my life!” he recalls. “I’m hoping people who take part in this have the same kind of experience, playing in a professional stadium and everything that comes with it. It’s a different level to playing in the park.

“It’s about sport, it’s good for your mental health and who doesn’t love football? If I was younger, I’d play, but at my age, with my back and my knees, there’s no chance!”

As much as a large percentage of the Mental Health World Cup’s success comes down to the experience it offers the players and spectators, however, the most important thing remains the crucial message at its core.

“One of the things that happened with my brother was that he wasn’t comfortable talking about his mental health,” says Gaglione . “The word suicide, it’s got a dark taboo that surrounds it and we’re trying to get people comfortable with the idea that the chances are if you don’t share it, there’s a chance you’ll actually go through with it. That’s our mission overall, to try and make it normal to talk.”