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)

Actress Liv Tyler, 40, stripped in shots for the Triumph Essence's Autumn/Winter 2017 campaign in November, 2017. The Essence line is Triumph’s premium offering, with this season taking on the theme of “opulent Art Nouveau”, featuring designs in velvet embellished mesh, Leavers lace and silk satin. (Photo by Rankin/The Mega Agency)

Indian forest officials and police personnel try to chase away a wild male elephant at Hengrabari area in Guwahati on April 30, 2019. The elephant came down from Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary in search of food and later forest official tranquillized it, local media reported. As the pressure of population pushes human habitation closer to forests incidents of wild animals straying into cities is increasingly reported. (Photo by Biju Boro/AFP Photo)

Austrian alpine skiers (LtoR) Georg Streitberger, Klaus Kroell, Max Franz, Joachim Puchner, Romed Baumann pose in the Olympic Rings on February 4, 2014 at the Mountain Olympic Village at the Rosa Khutor Alpine centre, four days prior to the start of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games. (Photo by Fabrice Coffrini/AFP Photo)

A 41-year-old man going by the name of Chibatman rides his “Chibatpod” on the road in Chiba, east of Tokyo, August 31, 2014. The man, who dresses up as the comic book superhero Batman, came up with his moniker after adding a prefix of the first three letters of the city name, of which he roams on his three-wheeled motorcycle. However, unlike the hero from the Batman series, he rides around in his machine, designed from inspiration of the “Batpod” from the movies The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, delivering smiles instead of fighting crime. (Photo by Yuya Shino/Reuters)

Yang Shiguang, 77, performs stunts at a park in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, September 3, 2013. Yang has been a member of a stunt performance club since 2007, after retiring from a research institution. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

Some are in it just for the money, others to help buy a meal. Then there are those who trade for fun or to spend time among friends. Millions of investors – pensioners, security guards, high-school students – dominate China's stock markets, conducting about 80 percent of all trades. Retirees gather in brokerage houses dotted around China also to enjoy some company and savour the air conditioning on hot days. Some start as young as 13, trading from home with an eye on future careers in finance. Winning isn't guaranteed. This year, among the most turbulent in China's financial history, its stock markets more than doubled in the six months to May, only to crash amid concerns that growth in the country, which makes everything from cars to steel, is slowing faster than previously thought. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)