A high-altitude stunt has taken social media by storm after Russian extreme athlete Sergey Boytsov staged a football match 1,800 metres above the ground, using a makeshift pitch suspended beneath a hot-air balloon. The feat has astonished both football fans and thrill-seekers.
In a video posted by Boytsov on Instagram, a couple of players can be seen in full football gear, with the unusual addition of parachute backpacks. The players are seen sprinting, tackling and scoring while drifting thousands of feet above the ground. An aircraft circles overhead to film the scene, revealing a narrow pitch suspended from the hot-air balloon by ropes, with tiny figures darting across it. Clear skies complete the backdrop to a football match unlike anything witnessed before.
Boytsov also claimed to have set a new record with the event. In the caption of his Instagram post, he wrote: "We set a new world record. The world's first hot air balloon football match at an altitude of 1,800 metres."
The clip has exploded online, amassing over 44 million views on Instagram. Clips of the mid-air football match have also spread rapidly on X, where numerous accounts have reshared the spectacle.
Posting the reel, Fox Soccer wrote, "He hit Cristiano Ronaldo's signature "SIUUU" celebration at over 5,500 feet," referring to the Portuguese star's globally famous jump-and-spin celebration. The video shows the scorer finishing his shot and performing the "siu" celebration while stepping off the suspended field with his parachute.
He hit Cristiano Ronaldo's signature “SIUUU” celebration at over 5,500 FEET 😱
🎥: mikhail_litvin/IG pic.twitter.com/L7eIgKSnLXBoytsov is known for similar gravity-defying displays. In recent months, he has shared videos of aerial gymnasts reportedly 1,500 metres up in the air. A clip posted in June attracted huge engagement.
He has also carried out other high-altitude challenges on hot-air balloons, attempting boxing and even table tennis at 2,450 metres, turning everyday sports into extreme aerial feats.
The floating football match, however, appears to have elicited an unprecedented reaction online, partly for its visual spectacle and partly due to the unexpected Ronaldo tribute mid-air. As more clips continue to circulate, social media users are calling the feat everything from “Insane” to “soccer in the clouds” to “unbelievable.”
One user also wrote, “Sergey Boytsov just made FIFA look boring.”
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Sergey Boytsov just made FIFA look boring.
The Russian daredevil hosted what he claims is the world's first hot air balloon football match, 5,900 feet above Earth where oxygen and common sense are sparse.… pic.twitter.com/2kIfJHk4qZWhether or not high-altitude football catches on, Boytsov has once again made sure the world is looking up, quite literally, to see what he does next.
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