People’s Puskas 2024: Q&A with Thor Soltauw Mommsen and Denis Sonoga

We asked Thor Soltauw Mommsen (TS) and Denis Sonoga (DS) from Veo’s team how they select the goals, what the next steps are, and why the People’s Puskas was invented in the first place.

Have you seen the best goal scored in 2024? Or maybe you even scored it yourself. You can still submit your goal on the website here: www.peoplespuskas.com.

What criteria do you use to find the People’s Puskas nominees?

TS: We’ve learned that people like to see a nice mix of creativity and technical difficulty. The type of goal you have tried to score on countless occasions at practice or in your garden. The context of the goal also plays a role—it could be a player taking matters into their own hands with a crazy solo goal or a perfect volley to the top corner after a beautiful team buildup.

All in all, the harder it is to perform, the better it is to watch. And when you see these goals, you just know it instantly. Oh, and if the goal resembles one scored by a famous professional player, people seem to enjoy that, too.

How do you move on to the next phase and eventually find the winner?

DS: We want to ensure that the community remains at the heart of all three phases of this campaign. In the submission phase we’re encouraging the community to submit the best goals they’ve witnessed last year. After that, we’re giving the power to the community to decide the top 8 most-voted goals. Our role is to facilitate this process, not decide who deserves to win. Believe it or not, we’ve had countless debates ourselves when comparing these incredible goals.

To make voting accessible and engaging, the community will have three daily votes to distribute among the contenders. It’s not easy to pick the ultimate winner at this stage, so providing three votes that “recharge” each day is a perfect way to encourage participation and give everyone a voice. It’s important to note that we’re not looking for a single winner but rather eight most-voted goals that qualify for the next stage. Once those are determined, we’ll move on to the next stage, which we call the “Final 8.”

On our Instagram, we’ll host a tournament-style bracket where the top 8 goals will face off in randomly assigned matchups. We recommend following our account to track the progress and see if the goal you believe is the best aligns with the community’s choice.

What inspired you to launch the People’s Puskas, and how does it align with Veo’s mission?‍

TS: The campaign is rooted in one of Veo’s main goals, which is to support grassroots football and give non-professional players a chance to shine. It initially started as a response to the yearly Puskás Award, which seems to focus on professionals in the big leagues. We know that so many goals are being scored and recorded every day, and there’s no way anyone has seen them all. We haven’t even seen them all, so with People’s Puskas, we really lean towards the community we’ve built and encourage them to show their great goals.

How does Veo’s technology play a role in identifying and promoting the goals?

DS: On a daily basis, we receive clips recorded with Veo Cameras submitted from all around the globe—what we call #veomoments. Three years ago, we saw the nominations for what was called “the best goal in the world,” and we were honestly surprised by two things; we were seeing goals submitted that were a lot better than those shortlisted, and none of the goals came from leagues below the top-flight level.

That realization was the spark that started this entire campaign or movement, or what you want to call it. Thanks to the incredible stories and clips shared by the Veo community on a regular basis, we were able to seize the opportunity to act and make something truly meaningful. And more importantly; a way to give back to the community.

Now, with People’s Puskas running at full speed, it’s incredibly simple to participate—essentially, it’s just about sharing a link to the game where the moment happened. These clips, recorded in high quality, can now be seen by the entire world. And if you happen to win the People’s Puskas, your goal doesn’t just get recognition—it becomes a lifelong memory.

We’ve all heard the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Now, imagine how much a video must be worth.

What does People’s Puskas give to the grassroots community?

TS: More than anything, it brings the community together. The campaign celebrates a sport loved worldwide and the special moments it creates. Often, those moments are goals—and people love goals. We see it daily as our followers rate free-kick goals or debate whether a bicycle kick is harder to execute than a first-time volley. It’s a topic everyone has an opinion on. 

With the focus on amateur football, People’s Puskas facilitates the opportunity for players and untapped talent to be part of something unique, something they can share with their friends and family. Just look at last year’s campaign, when a young guy from Wales got his whole team and local town behind him as he won the award.

What has been the most rewarding aspect of running the People’s Puskas?

DS: It’s about giving players their moment of glory. It’s clear that not everyone will make it to the highest level, but we’ve always known that there are brilliant players capable of creating moments of magic. Now we have proof of video. Being able to record and showcase those moments and giving these players the feeling of being part of the elite is incredibly rewarding.