The D.C. region may not have hosted any matches during the 2026 FIFA men’s World Cup, but a group of youth soccer players left their mark on this year’s tournament.
Members of the District of Columbia Football Club’s U10 boys soccer team were selected to take part as player escorts before the Group E match between Ecuador and Ivory Coast on June 14 in Philadelphia. The team is a part of the Open Goal Project, a nonprofit that provides access to high-level youth soccer for free for children living in D.C. who cannot pay to join club teams.
Amir Lowery, executive director and co-founder of Open Goal Project, told 蜜桃视频app its team was selected to participate as player escorts through a program for “underserved communities” through the Common Goal Charity and the Quaker Oats Company.
“Because there were no World Cup matches here in D.C., we were able to connect with them in hopes of getting an opportunity for our kids to participate in some way, for our communities to catch some of the World Cup vibe,” Lowery said.
DCFC received a grant and fundraised for the trip to Philadelphia. Seventeen players, all 10 years old and younger, were taken to the World Cup match along with their parents. Before arriving to the stadium, the players got dressed in special World Cup jerseys. As they arrived, the players were greeted by singing supporters excited for the game.
“It felt insane,” Aman Gopalakrishna, 9, told 蜜桃视频app. “There was so many people swarming into the stadium, and it was ginormous.”
The job of a player escort seems simple at first. The child holds hands with the player as they walk out in front of the center circle for the pregame ceremony, stands in front of them during the national anthems and walks back to the sidelines during the postgame handshake.
However, for the 2026 tournament, the escorts walk through a mini-tunnel and walk around the center circle with their player.
As he came out of the tunnel alongside Ecuador’s Pedro Vita, Aman said he felt “awesome” as he looked at the crowd inside the stadium.
“They thought that I was very lucky to have an experience like that,” Aman said of his parents.
However, not all the players were as calm as Aman.
Nicholas Salmeron, 8, said he was nervous stepping on the field seeing the crowd. However, he remembered holding the Ecuadorian player’s hand, eliminating the nerves and “making me proud.” His brother Oliver was also uneasy to walk out the pitch but after the experience, he liked Ecuador “a little bit” more.
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For 8-year-old Matheo Alvarado Lopes, going to the World Cup meant he had the chance to be surrounded by some of the best players in the world.
“I never met a professional player,” Matheo said.
Even though they were bigger and taller than him, Matheo said he did not feel any jitters making his walk out of the tunnel with forward Gonzalo Plata.
“It was loud but inside, in my opinion, everything was calm,” he said.
His sister Elizabeth, 14, watched her brother from the stands with their parents in awe. She felt proud of him for all the hard work he achieved as a member of DCFC to get this opportunity. Lowery added that Matheo’s extended family in Guatemala held a watch party to watch him come out in the pregame ceremony.
“I was like, ‘I can’t believe I’m his sister,'” Elizabeth said. “It’s so fun to see like someone that you know be a part of 迟丑补迟.”听
Lowery said the players received a bag as a gift from FIFA for participating. He hopes the experience leaves a lasting impression on his players.
“The best thing for me about that day was the smiles on the kids’ faces, their energy the entire day, the excitement they had to participate in that moment,” Lowery said.聽
For Nicholas Salmeron, the experience inspired him to work harder to achieve his dreams: “I want to be the best soccer player in the world.”
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