Team GB are all set for an enthralling Paralympic games
Team GB head to Paris for the Paralympics in the coming weeks(Image credit: Alamy)
The Paralympic games in Paris are home to some of the most impressive and unique feats of human capabilities on the planet involving athletes with a range of disabilities.
Football fans will likely cast a keen eye on the blind football competition, in which players with visual defects are blindfolded and take to the pitch.
Great Britain has a rich history in the sport, with England, in particular, finding success at the international level over recent years, but will Team GB compete at this year's games?
Do Team GB compete at blind football at the Paralympics?
Paris welcomes back athletes after the Olympic games earlier this summer (Image credit: Mohamad Salaheldin Abdelg Alsayed/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Team GB have a patchy history with football in general at the Olympic and Paralympic games, with Olympic football only really played by the women's team due to disputes amongst the respective football associations in the men's game.
Blind football, however, hasn't suffered the same fate since the sport's initial inclusion at the 2004 Paralympics in Athens.
Team GB's first appearance in the sport came in 2008 thanks to England's performances in the build-up to the Beijing games, finishing fifth out of six teams at the games.
Visitors take photos next to the Olympic and Paralympic rings near Plaza de la Bastilla ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (Image credit: Getty Images)
The side featured again at the London 2012 games by virtue of being the host nation, finishing seventh out of eight sides in front of the home crowd.
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However, the side did not qualify to compete in Paris, with England failing to secure a qualification spot at last year's Ibsa World Games despite coming third in the 2022 European championships.
The teams competing in Paris are: Argentina, Japan, Brazil, China, Colombia, Morocco, Turkey and France, with Brazil taking gold in every single Paralympic games since the sport's introduction in 2004
James Ridge is a freelance journalist based in the UK. He recently spent time with The United Stand as an online news editor and has covered the beautiful game from England’s eighth tier all the way to the Premier League.
