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Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
Mathew Davies

Why is Lee Mack playing for the World XI at Soccer Aid 2023?

Soccer Aid is back and gets under way on Sunday night, with former world football stars and celebrities facing off against each other all in the name of charity.

The fixture, which is taking place at Old Trafford, Manchester United's home ground, will see an England XI, managed by rapper Stormzy, taking on a World XI coached by new Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino.

Lioness hero Jill Scott will captain England, while Olympic gold medal superstar Usain Bolt will skipper the rest of the world side.

A quick look at the line-ups though will see a few head-scratching picks, such as comedian Lee Mack named in the World XI FC side, alongside the likes of Mo Gilligan and Ben Foster.

Mack has been selected in the World side due to his Irish heritage, while fellow stand-up Gilligan was born in London to parents of Jamaican and St. Lucian descent. Macj had previously discovered about his heritage in an appearance on the BBC show Who Do You Think You Are?

Wrexham stopper Foster, meanwhile, was born in Leamington Spa to English parents and has been capped by his country. It turns out the former Manchester United keeper just wants to be involved! He'll play the first half and will be replaced by UFC fighter Leon Edwards at the break. David James will play in goal for England.

Speaking about his decision to play back in March, he said: “We’re really, really excited for it. I think I’ll find it fairly easy because it’s kind of both of my worlds mixing together in a way.

“Having played football for the best part of 20 years, I’ve jumped into this new sort of YouTube world.

“I’ve already done a lot of videos where we’re sort of playing with YouTubers. Now we understand that world, it should be fairly easy for me!”

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