Live Soccer Aid 2025: Score and latest updates from Old Trafford
Good evening and welcome to live coverage of the 14th Soccer Aid, a charity football match founded by Robbie Williams and his friend Jonathan Wilkes to raise money for Unicef UK in 2006. Once biennial, now annual, the game is being held at Old Trafford for the ninth time and features two teams representing England and the Rest of the World made up of celebrities and superannuated football players, both men and women, who have so far raised more than £106 million. Occupational obligation may have brought this correspondent to this subject for the first time but one has to concede for all the cynicism, that is an admirable effort and will have touched many lives. Chapeau.
The early matches were dominated by a regular cast ranging from Patrick Kielty to Ralf Little, Michael Sheen to Ben Shephard who have now bowed to the toll of Old Father Time, though Lee Mack, at 56, is still game and is poised to make his fifth appearance. Among the ex-pros, stalwarts Clarence Seedorf, Jamie Redknapp and Jaap Stam, have also decided their race is run for now though Gary Neville is back after a year away to make his fourth appearance in an England team that will be led by his Stick to Football co-host Jill Scott and featuring his podcast and former Manchester United colleagues Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick and Paul Scholes in the squad.
The World XI also relies heavily on the Association of Former Manchester United Players with a welcome return for Edwin van der Sar after suffering a brain haemorrhage in 2023 as well as Nemanja Vidic, John O'Shea and Carlos Tevez. Old Trafford household gods apart, the biggest draws are World Cup winner Rivaldo and Euro 2000 matchwinner David Trezeguet but some of the celebrities are less familiar and the team, managed by Peter Schmeichel, has a few English ringers to bulk them out.
The head-to-head record is England 6 to the World Xi's 7. Victory for the home side managed by Tom Hiddleston, Tyson Fury, David James, Vicky McClure, Robbie Williams and Harry Redknapp can equalise today.
Kick-off is at 7.30.
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