Football is strength. It accepts me for me.

In a time marked by conflict and crisis, the world is divided. But through the power of football, the FIFA Women's World Cup(TM) will bring people together, allowing them to unite - discovering new cultures, as part of a worldwide community and celebrating together.

FIFA's flagship campaign, Football Unites the World is a global movement that will inspire, unite and drive development through football, with FIFA Legends sharing stories of what football's uniting power means to them. In the run-up to the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023, we caught up with Ali Riley to hear about how football has shaped her as a person and the growing influence it can exert.

A FIFA Women’s World Cup veteran having represented New Zealand at four tournaments to date – 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019 – Riley has the honour of captaining her country at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup as she continues to look optimistically at the growth of women’s football.

And, crucially, the tournament presents another opportunity to encapsulate the global message of unity and equality that football offers.

“I think football unites the world by being an escape for a lot of people,” she said. “It’s something that we’re so passionate about, [that] we love. It’s something that we have in common. When you play a sport, especially football being the world’s game, you can just forget about everything else, you get to play the sport, it’s very equalising.

“Everyone is trying to do the same thing: to win games; to score goals; to make their country, their family, their community, their team [and] their teammates proud.

"As a player it is like just another world that we all get to be in and be seen as equals for those 90 minutes. So, I think it’s really, really powerful.”