Philippine teams feature in FIFA Museum
MANILA, Philippines — Football has been around for over 150 years and the influence of "the beautiful game" has reached nations all over the world.
While football was born in Great Britain, its governing body Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is based in Zurich, Switzerland.
Further downtown is the FIFA Museum, home to over a thousand football memorabilia from around the globe.
The 38,000 square foot structure opened in 2016 and also houses a sports bar, bistro, cafe, library, conference rooms, and a shop. There are even office spaces and apartments on the building's upper floors.
Guests are required to leave their belongings in colorful lockers bearing the names of iconic football players such as Franz Beckenbauer, Johann Cruyff, Bobby Moore, Alfredo di Stefano, Gary Lineker, Eusebio, Romario, and Iker Casillas.
Near the museum's entrance is a rainbow arrangement of all FIFA members' jersey, including the white home kit of the Philippines.
Numerous exhibitions detail the history of football and its premier competition the World Cup, first staged in 1930 in Uruguay. A special exhibition also celebrates the 120th anniversary of FIFA.
The World Cup hallway sees all the men's tournaments on the right side, from Uruguay 1930 won by the hosts to Qatar 2022 won by Argentina, with information and memorabilia from each tournament.
On the left side are the women's tournaments that started in 1991 won by the United States and most recently in 2023 by Spain.
The 2023 tournament hosted by Australia and New Zealand is particularly significant as it was the first FIFA World Cup the Philippines qualified for, and Filipino fans are even included in that tournament's backdrop.
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Similar to the museum entrance, a blue away kit of the Philippine women's team features in the hallway as well as information of the team's historic 2023 run.
The hallway is also home to the actual World Cup trophies of the men and women's tournaments. Winning teams are given replicas after each edition.
Also found there is a Wall Champions featuring winning countries and the players in each squad. Players who visit the museum leave a golden rivet beside their name and sign a circular board.
At the end of the hallway are information of FIFA's other tournaments such as the inaugural Futsal Women's World Cup which the Philippines will host later this year — the first time the country is hosting a FIFA event.
After the exhibitions, guests can play in football-themed arcade games and licensed FIFA games of years past, finally capping off visits at the museum store to purchase merchandise.
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Editor's note: The trip to Switzerland was hosted by Switzerland Tourism. At no stage does the host organization has a say on the stories generated from the coverage, interviews conducted, publication date, and story treatment. Content is produced solely by Philstar.com following editorial guidelines.
