As Russia puts the finishing touches to the carefully manicured fields that will host the World Cup from next week, people around the globe are playing soccer on a surprising variety of makeshift pitches. Off the coast of an island in southern Thailand, they play on a floating platform; in the mountains of northern Italy, they kick about in the snow – images captured by Reuters photographers around the world. Here: Local residents play soccer on the top floor of a parking garage in Jakarta, Indonesia, May 4, 2018. (Photo by Darren Whiteside/Reuters)

Boeing 747-400 of KLM in approach for the “Princess Juliana” airport, Netherlands Antilles Sint Maarten on July 2, 2002. (Photo by LUPOO/Ullstein Bild via Getty Images)

A red squirrel and a woodpecker having an “argument” over some nuts in a woodland near Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway in Johnsfield, England in September 2020. (Photo by Karen Crawford/South West News Service)

A man jumps over a puddle outside Victoria Station, as heavy rain falls, in London, Monday June 20, 2016. Monday marks the Summer Solstice – the longest day of the year and the astronomical change of seasons when days are longest and nights are shortest in the Northern Hemisphere. (Photo by Lauren Hurley/PA Wire via AP Photo)

A Dead Leaf butterfly (Kallima inachu formosana, also called Orange Oakleaf Butterfly) rests on a tree trunk at the Taipei Zoo in Taipei, Tawian, 03 August 2019. Dead Leaf butterfly can be found in Tropical Asia from India to Japan. When its wings close, it resembles a dead leaf, providing camouflage against predators including birds, ants, spiders and wasps. (Photo by David Chang/EPA/EFE)

A Siberian eagle owl, which can grow up to 71cm tall, is among a collection of 60 birds of prey at SMJ Falconry near Oxenhope, West Yorkshire, England. (Photo by Charlotte Graham)

Three pugs peer out from a car window in Los Angeles, California. A wacky photographer has come up with an unusual pet project – snapping ecstatic dogs as they hang their heads out of car windows. Lara Jo Regan, 48, embarked on the odd task for her new 2014 calendar “Dogs In Cars”. The unusual shoot, which took place in Los Angeles, California, aimed to explore the joy experienced by pugs and huskies when a breeze hits their faces. (Photo by Lara Jo Regan/Barcroft Media)

A period of relative stability has put the Iranian capital No1 on the list of world cities that have achieved biggest improvements in liveability over the past five years, as calculated by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The “most improved” top 10 contains some unexpected names. So, eg, the fourth place: Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Latest ranking: 128; Ranking five years ago: 131; Five-year index movement: 3.8%. Here: A supporter of Ivory Coast president Alassane Ouattara campaigns in a market in the city’s Koumassi quarter. (Photo by Sia Kambou/AFP Photo)