Freestyle Soccer
Freestyle football: what to know about the craze
Everything you need to know about this fast-growing sport as Red Bull Street Style prepares to make its return.
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Watching one-on-one freestyle football battles is enough to make any sports fan want to know more about this fast-growing sport. Also known as freestyle soccer, freestyle football sees participants creatively expressing themselves through tricks. With its combination of juggling, dance and acrobatics combined, freestyle football is one of the most spectacular sports crazes of the 21st century. Here's everything you need to know about this fast-growing sport.
01
The history of freestyle football
Antonio Sanz del Peso in Pula
© Sinisa Kanizaj / Red Bull Content Pool
Freestyle football is a relatively new sport, but it has its origins in the ancient Southeast Asian games of chinlone, sepak takraw and jianzi. In the 1800s, circus performers used many of the same ball tricks we see freestyle footballers showcasing today.
Many people credit Diego Maradona's famous warm-ups in the 1980s as the birth of freestyle football. Fans loved the Argentinian, who was the first football player publicly showcasing these tricks. However, critics slammed his antics, declaring they had little to do with football. Yet, they lit a spark in freestyle football pioneers like South Korea's Mr. Woo and Kang Sung Min. Mr. Woo, a former footballer, became the first freestyle footballer performing in Las Vegas. His performances around the world in the 1990s helped freestyle football gain acceptance and popularity in the 21st century.
02
Bringing the sport to the next century
Portia King in Durban
© Mpumelelo Macu / Red Bull Content Pool
Freestyle football has always been the mind-blowing art of performing tricks with a football. The current global situation has seen freestyle soar even higher in popularity, because it can be done individually anywhere, anytime. All you need is a ball.
Things really took off for the sport with newly created national and continental tournaments which appeared in the mid-2000s and gave freestylers a boost of motivation to train and develop their own style. In 2008, freestyle football made its definitive step towards thanks to its first major global competition: Red Bull Street Style.
03
Meet an icon of the sport
1 h 21 min
Séan Garnier vs The World
Freestyle football has been Séan Garnier’s ticket to the world, but success never comes without sacrifice.
Freestyle soccer expert Arnaud 'Séan' Garnier started out with dreams of becoming a full-time professional footballer, but he suffered a series of injuries early on in his career and decided to become a coach instead. After that he discovered a new passion that combined breaking and football: the urban art of freestyle football.
Garnier quickly found his groove, developing his own style and unique set of skills. Within two years, he went from demoing on the streets of Paris to the world stage, and in 2008 he was crowned World Champion at the first Red Bull Street Style World Finals in São Paulo, Brazil, the spiritual home of freestyle.
Séan is still striving to develop the creativity of freestyle football worldwide, pushing boundaries together with his team, Street Style Society. Get to know the world’s most famous freestyle footballer in the film above.
04
Red Bull Street Style
The stunning venue for the 2022 Red Bull Street Style World Finals
© Predrag Vuckovic / Red Bull Content Pool
Freestyle football has continued to explode in popularity over the years. However, many of the newcomers and those unfamiliar with the sport altogether may not know about the history of the tournament that really brought freestyle football into the mainstream. A freestyle football world championship like no other; Red Bull Street Style.
Of course, doing tricks with a football had existed for quite some time. This is different though, a breath-taking combination of athleticism and creativity with the ball where sky’s the limit. The format of this global competition showcases such skills, with representatives from across the globe battling head-to-head for glory.
Since the first ever Red Bull Street Style World Finals took place in Brazil in 2008, champions have been crowned in South Africa, Italy, Tokyo, England, Poland, Croatia and the USA. Now the show is preparing to go back on the road again!
20 min
All You Need is a Ball
Enjoy a look into how the best freestyle footballers in the world are paving the way for a new generation.
Other notable freestyle football competitions include...
Super Ball World Open Championship: In 2009, the Czech Freestyle Football Association launched the Super Ball World Open Championship, the first world open freestyle football competition. The annual competition's open nature encourages freestyle footballers with a range of styles to try their luck. After several years in Liberec, Super Ball is back to its original home of Prague.
European Freestyle Football Championship: In 2013, the annual European Freestyle Football Championship began in Budapest. The event travels to a different European host city each year. Its main competition sees male and female competitors go head-to-head in freestyle football battles. Each participant has three 30-second rounds to impress the judging panel with their tricks, ball control and originality.
African Freestyle Football Championship: In 2017, the first African Freestyle Football Championship took place. Despite taking the competition online in 2020, it had 152 competitors representing 21 countries, including more women than ever before. While Africa's freestyle football scene is in its infancy, the sport is growing faster than traditional football across the continent.
Women's European Freestyle Football Championship: In 2019, the world got its first women's freestyle football competition. While women can compete at other events, an exclusively female competition was a groundbreaking development for the sport. Held in Budapest, Hungary, the Women's European Freestyle Football Championship saw eight European women battle it out for the title.
05
How to get involved with freestyle football
Aguska Mnich and Captain Kris
© James Pinniger / Red Bull Content Pool
Simply playing around with a football is one of the best ways to get involved with freestyle football. Juggling is the foundation of many freestyle football tricks, so you should practice that first. Try to keep the ball in motion below your hip. Dedicating an hour or so every day until you can do 100 keep-ups consistently will help you develop your leg speed and ball control skills.
Once you're a confident juggler, you can progress to some of the more complex freestyle football moves. Stalling the ball, where you balance the ball on your foot, is probably the easiest freestyle football trick. Around the World, where you flick the ball up and circle your foot around it before commencing juggling, is another simple trick.
Master tricks from all these different freestyle football categories...
- Lower body tricks: Standing tricks using the feet or legs.
- Upper body tricks: Standing tricks using the shoulders, chest or head.
- Sitting tricks: Tricks performed in a seated position.
- Ground move tricks: Standing tricks where the ball moves along the ground.
- Blocking tricks: Tricks performed by holding the ball with parts of the lower body.
- Acrobatic tricks: Tricks inspired by gymnasts and circus performers.
- Transitions: Intermediate moves that connect different tricks.
Once you're confident in your skills, search for local competitions or freestyle football groups. Participating in competitions and groups will help you hone your freestyle football skills.
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