The most talented freestyle footballers from across the globe have landed in Brussels, Belgium as they look to be crowned 2023 Red Bull Street Style champions on Thursday, December 7.
The top 12 men and women’s ballers have converged on the Belgian capital and were seen in the city this morning preparing for the Championships with some of their signature tricks.
Ahead of Wednesday’s qualification taking place at Gare Maritime, which will see only the top eight male and female ballers progress to Thursday evening’s finals, a judging panel consisting of some of the most recognisable names in the sport has now been confirmed.
Red Bull Street Style celebrates the flair, passion and skill of freestyle football to inspire future generations to engage with the sport across the globe.
This year’s judging panel, which consists of Robert Guzik (Pol), Gaetan Czaja (Fra), Olivia Cooke (GBR) and Jaime Arboreta (ESP), will select the top eight men and women from Wednesday’s qualifiers who will then battle on Thursday to take home the championships in the Belgian capital.
In order to impress the judges, the ballers will need to bring their best performance and showcase their individuality, creativity, style, flair, and passion.
The judges will be joined at Thursday evening’s finals at Docks Dome by KRC Genk and Belgian international goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt.
The 21-year-old is rated as one of the world’s best young players and is the youngest goalkeeper to make an appearance in UEFA Champions League history.
Vandervoort will be a crucial part of the judging team that will decide the winners, while the Belgian star will also hand out the trophies to the winners from the men’s and women’s competitions.
He said: “It’s really crazy what these athletes can do with a ball. As a goalkeeper, I realise all too well how important ball control is, but this is really something else. I will mainly pay attention to style and general vibe.
The technical details I will leave to the experts next to me. I think it’s very cool that Red Bull is bringing this competition to Belgium. We are a football country and we are going to celebrate that in a way only we can!”
Red Bull Street Style is a global competition that aims to find the best overall freestyle football players in the world. The first-ever Red Bull Street Style was held in 2008 in Brazil, marking this year as the 11th edition of the event.
2023 Global Championships line-up
Men
1: Erlend Fagerli (Norway)
2: Tristan Gac (France)
3: Jesse Marlet (Netherlands)
4: Aki Komine (Japan)
5: Marc Jonin (Switzerland)
6: Soufiane Bencok (Belgium)
7: Pat Shaw (USA)
8: Boyka Ortiz (Colombia)
9: Jay Hennicke (Australia)
10: Pagu (Costa Rica)
11: Charly Iacono (Argentina)
12: Daniel Mikolajek (Poland)
Women
1: Mélody Donchet (France)
2: Paloma Pujol (Spain)
3: Laura Biondo (Venezuela)
4: Moe-k (Japan)
5: Jasmijn Janssen (Netherlands)
6: Anastasia Bagaglini (Italy)
7: Caitlyn Schrepfer (USA)
8: Mathilde Fortier (Canada)
9: Isabel Wilkins (United Kingdom)
10: Emmi Björn (Finland)
11: Diana Carolina Rojer (Panama)
12: Kalina Matysiak (Poland)
Where to Watch
Tune into Red Bull Street Style Championships live on Thursday, December 7 at 19:45 CEST // 18:45 GMT via Red Bull Belgium TikTok Channel
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Content and More Information
For more on the event, such as the history or format, check out the web page at www.redbullstreetstyle.com