--- description: Astronauts on the International Space Station got into the World Cup spirit with a game of zero-gravity soccer title: Space Station Crew Celebrates World Cup image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4ee222707a9af0a0/6986974a361760d93690c94d/socer-ball.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [World Cup](/tag/world-cup/) ## World Cup Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # World Cup Mania Makes It to Outer Space by [Abby Abrams](/author/abby-abrams/) ## Abby Abrams Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 12, 2014 2:32 PM CUT  soccer ball isolated on black soccer ball isolated on blackMichael Krinke—Getty Images by [Abby Abrams](/author/abby-abrams/) ## Abby Abrams Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 12, 2014 2:32 PM CUT The World Cup begins Thursday in Brazil, and International Space Station crew members celebrated the event’s kickoff by playing some floating soccer. In this video, crew members Steve Swanson, Reid Wiseman, and Alexander Gerst kick around a soccer ball while floating around a room in the space station. Soccer minus gravity would make a poor sporting event — but it makes for one awesome video. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2864323/space-station-crew-world-cup/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2864323/space-station-crew-world-cup/"},"headline":"World Cup Mania Makes It to Outer Space","datePublished":"2014-06-12T14:32:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:22:51.496Z","description":"Astronauts on the International Space Station got into the World Cup spirit with a game of zero-gravity soccer","url":"https://time.com/2864323/space-station-crew-world-cup/","keywords":["World Cup"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4ee222707a9af0a0/6986974a361760d93690c94d/socer-ball.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Abby Abrams","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/abby-abrams/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4ee222707a9af0a0/6986974a361760d93690c94d/socer-ball.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"soccer-ball","caption":"soccer ball","creditText":"Michael Krinke—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/world-cup/","name":"World Cup"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2864323/space-station-crew-world-cup/","name":"World Cup Mania Makes It to Outer Space"}}]}] ```