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)

A devotee gestures after being flogged by a reveler dressed as a devil during a mass celebration of the “Talciguines” of Texistepeque, El Salvador on Easter Monday, April 3, 2023. In the Nahuatl, Talciguin means “deviled men”, a traditional procession performed during Easter monday to represent the fight against the devil of the Christian prophet Jesus Christ. (Photo by Camilo Freedman/SOPA Images/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

People perform during the Archstoyanie 2023 festival in the village of Nikola-Lenivets, Kaluga region, Russia on July 29, 2023. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

Iraqi Kurds carry fire torches as they celebrate Nowruz Day, a festival marking the first day of spring, Kurdish and Persian New Year in Akre, Iraq on March 20, 2024. Newroz or Nowruz means “new day” in Persian, and is celebrated to mark the arrival of spring and the first day of the Iranian calendar. It is widely celebrated in Persian and neighboring regions and is recognized on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Human List. (Photo by Ismael Adnan/SOPA Images/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Alain Robert of France, who is known as "Spiderman", climbs the Habana Libre hotel in Havana February 4, 2013. Robert, who scales buildings all over the world without safety equipment, successfully climbed the hotel which is 126 metres (413 feet) high. (Photo by Stringer/Reuters)

An attendee dances at the start of the “Big Goth Dance Party” during the Porcupine Freedom Festival, or PorcFest, the Free State Project's annual summer gathering in Lancaster, NH on Wednesday, June 25, 2014. (Photo by Matthew Cavanaugh/The Washington Post)

An Indian resident assists a dog as he wades through floodwaters in Ahmedabad on July 30, 2014. Rains lashed Ahmedabad and many regions of India's western Gujarat state, wth the Indian Metrological Department warning of heavy rains for the next 48 hours. (Photo by Sam Panthaky/AFP Photo)

A Palestinian boy carries dates from palm trees during harvest season in southern Gaza September 25, 2016. (Photo by Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)