The Sidemen charity match is one of the biggest spectacles in the creator world, and the 2025 edition of the annual soccer showdown delivered on its considerable hype. With big names like MrBeast, iShowSpeed, Logan Paul, Kai Cenat, Mark Rober, and xQc dotting the pitch, the match drew 90,000 in-person attendees, peaked at about 2.5 million online viewers, and raised more than £4.7 million for its chosen charities.
The Sidemen charity match format dates back 2016, but the 2025 iteration took the event series to new heights, thanks in large part to a change in venue. For the first time, the group headlined by creators KSI, Miniminter, Zerkaa, TBJZL, Behzinga, Vikkstar123, and W2S brought its footballing fun to London’s Wembley Stadium, the home of the English national team.
The teams that faced off at Wembley possessed enough star power to fill the venue to its maximum capacity. In previous years’ charity matches, the “YouTube All-Stars” team had only managed a single win against the Sidemen and their friends, but the visitors broke their losing streak in a memorable 2025 contest. Highlights included Logan Paul’s headed goal, iShowSpeed’s assist to Kai Cenat, KSI’s halftime performance of “The Thick Of It,” Zerkaa’s first-ever charity match goal, and xQc’s laughably poor goalkeeping (which was a feature, not a bug).
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xQc may have injured himself making one of his only saves of the match, but his counterpart in the opposite goal was the Man of the Match. Madden streamer Sketch kept the score level with multiple spectacular saves. Then, in the ensuing shootout, he stopped a shot from Miniminter, setting the stage for iShowSpeed’s decisive penalty.
There was only one victorious team on the pitch, but the true winners were BBC’s Children in Need, Bright Side, and M7 Education — the three charities that will split the £4.7 million donation pool. Just how big is that fundraising total? When you consider that the last charity match’s record-setting sum was only half of the amount raised in 2025, it puts the septet’s latest accomplishment in perspective.
Where does the Sidemen Charity Match go from here? If it already brings the internet’s biggest stars to England’s largest sports venue, does it have any more room to grow? The Sidemen will answer those questions the next time they face the YouTube All-Stars, but the event’s legacy is already complete. The group’s annual success story has inspired an entire genre of influencer soccer matches. As more creators hobnob with the legends of the pitch, expect the Sidemen to remain in the thick of it.
