Mexico City, Mexico - The 2012 Homeless World Cup came to a close today with host nation Mexico almost completing a historic double. In all, fifty-six teams from all over the world competed in this 10th edition of the tournament.

The Mexican women thumped Brazil 6-2 to win the championship in the women’s edition of the tournament while the men's squad narrowly lost to Chili.

In the men's final, South American rivals Chile won a thrilling encounter 8-5 in front of thousands of passionate Mexican fans gathered at The Zocalo, a square at the heart of Mexico City. The loss denied the hosts the opportunity to sweep the tournament following the women's team's victory earlier in the day.

Speaking after the final, the President of the Homeless World Cup, Mel Young, said: "Mexico City has staged a fantastic fiesta of football. They have organized a spectacular sporting event, attracting crowds of almost 200,000 people over the week and a global audience watching 'live' via Internet TV."

"Most importantly they have helped to raise the profile of homeless people by putting the most marginalized people center stage and drawing the world’s attention to the disgrace of homelessness," Young said. "Football has the power to transform lives and the best result this week was not on the pitch, but how the players took the next step to move forward in their lives and inspire other homeless people to do the same."

"There are one hundred million homeless people in the world today and one homeless person is one too many,” he added.

The Homeless World Cup is a foundation established in 2003 which supports grassroots soccer programs and uses the power of soccer to motivate the homeless to change their lives. Founded by Mel Young from Scotland and Harald Schmied from Austria, the idea originally developed between the two at a conference on homelessness, in Cape Town in 2001. Since then, a network of 73 national partners has been established around the world, and the best teams come together to compete each year in a World Cup tournament.

Source: HomelessWorldCup.org