Noah Beck scores first goal in Soccer Aid football match
Usain Bolt captains Soccer Aid World XI.
Noah Beck has scored a penalty for Soccer Aid World XI against England in a charity football match raising money for the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef).
The world’s biggest celebrity football match saw the 21-year-old social media personality score in his debut Soccer Aid game, following a foul by YouTuber Chunkz.
The goal came 20 minutes into the game at the London Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford.
The annual charity match sees England take on the Rest of the World during a live show which is being hosted by Dermot O’Leary and Alex Scott on ITV.
Former One Direction singer Liam Payne is the England captain while the Soccer Aid World XI team sees Usain Bolt return as captain – a decade on from his gold medal wins at the 2012 London Olympics.
At the beginning of the match, Bolt placed the captain’s armband, sporting the colours of the Ukrainian flag, on Ukrainian teammate Andriy Shevchenko in a “touching moment”.
During the game, England’s goalkeeper David James made a spectacular save from a strike by Bolt 18 minutes into the game.
Martin Compston, Gary Neville, Mo Gilligan, Mark Wright and Tom Grennan have made their return to this year’s Soccer Aid.
The match also features a variety of debuts including Alex Brooker, who is the first physically disabled Soccer Aid player, Lucien Laviscount and Steven Bartlett.
Arsene Wenger manages Soccer Aid World XI FC alongside actor Idris Elba while Harry Redknapp moved over to manage the Three Lions with the help of actress Vicky McClure – taking with them last year’s star player Grennan.
During half-time, pop superstar and Soccer Aid co-creator Robbie Williams will perform his hit 1997 ballad Angels for 60,000 fans in the stadium.
Speaking ahead of the match, Williams told O’Leary: “It has become a bona fide massive real deal thing.
“It gets bigger and bigger and better and better. I only thought we were doing it once, I thought this will be a laugh when the football is off in the summer and here we are however years later.”
Since its creation in 2006, Soccer Aid has raised more than £60 million for the humanitarian organisation, which helps to provide aid to children worldwide.
Love Island commentator Iain Stirling was among those commentating on the match. Before the game, the hosts announced Soccer Aid had raised over £4 million for Unicef.