Sports have the ability to transform groups of strangers into a united community. In the celebratory spirit surrounding the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Sony and the World Photography Organisation present UNITED – a contest honouring the passion of football fans around the world. Seven inspirational photographers have been selected by Sony and WPO to capture the atmosphere and celebration of the World Cup across the globe. Photo: France – French fans cheering for their team. (Photo by Anthony Lepinay)

A Brazil soccer fan wearing contact lenses that mimic the Brazilian flag reacts as she watches her team play Germany in a World Cup semifinal game via live telecast inside the FIFA Fan Fest area on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, July 8, 2014. (Photo by Leo Correa/AP Photo)

Dancers wearing masks and kimonos perform in the streets at the “Super Yosakoi 2015” dance festival in Tokyo on August 30, 2015. One hundred dance teams with some 5,500 people participated in the two-day summer festival event. (Photo by Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP Photo)

Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov, of the Russian Olympic Committee, compete in the team ice dance program during the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, in Beijing. (Photo by Jeff Roberson/AP Photo)

Itzhak de Laat of Team Netherlands crashes during the Men's 500m Heats on day seven of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games at Capital Indoor Stadium on February 11, 2022 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Toby Melville/Reuters)

Gong Yan of Team China flies out of the gate at the Para Alpine Skiing Men's Super Combined Super-G Standing at Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre during day three of the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics on March 07, 2022 in Yanqing, China. (Photo by Joel Marklund for OIS/PA Wire)

A member of Team USA (L) recovers USA's Anita Alvarez (C), from the bottom of the pool during an incendent in the women's solo free artistic swimming finals, during the Budapest 2022 World Aquatics Championships at the Alfred Hajos Swimming Complex in Budapest on June 22, 2022. (Photo by Peter Kohalmi/AFP Photo)

Laelys Alavez, Anastasia Bayandina, Ambre Esnault, Laura Gonzalez, Romane Lunel, Eve Planeix, Charlotte Tremble and Laura Tremble of France perform in the artistic swimming team free routine at on August 6, 2024 at Olympic Aquacenter in Saint-Denis, France. (Photo by Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)