Here are seven active players, all of whom are taking part in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, who are using their celebrity to help create a better world.

1. Photo by: Glenn Harper / CC-BY-SA
7 Football Do-gooders

2. Photo by: Ben Tavener / CC-BY-SA; Nicolas Raymond / CC-BY
UNAIDS international goodwill ambassador
The Brazilian central defender promotes #ZeroDiscrimination, a campaign
urging people to celebrate everyone's right to live a full life with dignity
regardless of physical attributes, nationality and "whom they love."

3. Photo by: Amarhgil / CC-BY-SA; Nicolas Raymond / CC-BY
UNDP goodwill ambassador for the Millennium Development Goals
The Spanish football team captain has appeared in several videos focused on
youth issues and inequalities in Latin America. He also uses his Facebook page
to promote major activities of the U.N. Development Program.

4. Photo by: Christopher Johnson / CC-BY-SA; Nicolas Raymond / CC-BY
UNICEF international goodwill ambassador
The Argentine football team captain has been involved in UNICEF's advocacy and
fundraising efforts for a decade now. His foundation aims to help vulnerable
children in Argentina and Spain gain access to education and health care.

5. Photo by: Ludovic Peron / CC-BY; Nicolas Raymond / CC-BY
Save the Children global artist ambassador
The Real Madrid superstar actively supports the fight against child hunger and
obesity and promotes physical activity and healthy eating as part of Save the
Children's Hunger and Livelihoods Program.

6. Photo by: Puma / CC-BY; Nicolas Raymond / CC-BY
The first black player on the Italian football squad has contributed the fee he
received for starring in a TV commercial and print campaign toward a secondary
school in Cuey Machar, Sudan. He is also donating his earnings from the sales of
a children's book portraying him as a hero to Médecins Sans Frontières.

7. Photo by: Joscarfas / CC-BY-NC-SA; Nicolas Raymond / CC-BY
SOS Children’s Villages ambassador
The English striker actively supported 6 Villages for 2006, a joint campaign by
SOS Children’s Villages and FIFA to raise funds that would give orphaned and
abandoned children worldwide a new family home.

8. Photo by: Rayand/ CC-BY; Nicolas Raymond / CC-BY
UNDP goodwill ambassador
The Ivorian football captain has worked with several aid groups to mobilize
support for poverty eradication. His foundation funds health and education
initiatives benefitting Africans.

9. Photo by: Glenn Harper / CC-BY-SA
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