(19 Feb 2014) It's estimated that between 1 and 2 million children live on the streets in Egypt (source: Plan).
Aged on average between 12 and 16 they have no access to basic resources or education and are often exposed to physical and sexual abuse.
Now, for this group at least there is some hope - this year's World Cup.
They will not get to play with the big boys - but if the full funding is found, they will go to Brazil for the Street Child World Cup that now takes place every four years shortly before the FIFA World Cup tournament starts.
Street Child World Cup was created by a UK-based NGO "Street Child United." It aims to provide the children with a platform for them to be seen and heard, in the hope of changing the negative perception and treatment of them.
Countries from around the world can put teams together. The first event of this kind took place four years ago in South Africa, prior to the 2010 World Cup.
In Egypt, the national team failed to reach the World Cup in Brazil, losing the play-offs to Ghana.
However investment banker, Karim Hosni who co-coaches the team hopes to bring his team of street children to represent Egypt this year.
Hosni explains the criteria needed for the teams: "There were two basic aspects that were needed: that the child has lived two years outside of his home independently, and that he has been taken care of in a shelter for a year."
Hosni has backing from his friends, Mohamed Khedr, Mohamed Abou Hussein, Mourad Hakim and Hazem El Guindi who are all co-coaching and share a common belief in the power of football and its ability to unite and inspire people from all walks of life.
More than thirty children from different NGOs were recruited. Only nine of them will be chosen to fly to Brazil.
Training takes place twice a week at the American University campus in Tagamo on the outskirts of Cairo. Here the children learn football skills and discipline and are spurred on by the hope that they will be part of the group that will fly to Brazil. Members of the NGOs who guide the children also attend the training sessions.
Every child here has a story. Youssef Yousri is fifteen years old and had previously lived on the streets where he made ends meet by working in a factory.
"I used to work in Bab El Sharia in a shoe factory. I used to work fast and well, but I said to myself I'd like to become someone, and I think football is the best thing for me," he says.
Ashraf Helmi from FACE - one of the many NGOs that put children forward for the team - says all the children have had difficult lives, but even if only temporary - bad memories seem to be forgotten on the pitch:
"I can tell that the children have a real passion for these training sessions. They feel good about themselves and sense that there is something they want to do. This sense of well being is the most important thing."
Training is taken seriously by the coaches. They strongly believe in this project and what it can bring for the children.
Co-coach, Mohamed Khedr says he hopes the benefits of the tournament will stretch far beyond the team who will go to Brazil:
"My wish is that they go there and gain experience and come back having sensed that a change has happened and that they can start working on and spread this experience and knowledge to other children in their shelters. This way the subject can grow and there can be a higher awareness to the idea that 'before I was something else than I am now and I feel like I have hope.'"
The Street Child World Cup takes place on 28 March in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
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