OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Two cousins from Omaha got the chance to walk onto the pitch at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Kansas City.
Luis, 10, and his 8-year-old cousin Adriel Sosa were among 22 players from a free youth soccer league in Omaha chosen at random to escort players as they walked out of the tunnel at the World Cup. Luis and Adriel accompanied the pros ahead of the Austria-Algeria match at the tournament.
"I feel the grass of the stadium, and I'm like I'm never going to wash my hand anymore," Luis said.
"But I did," he added, laughing.
Both boys remember finding out they were going to the World Cup from their mothers, Luis said he didn't believe it at first.
Luis plays striker and Adriel plays goalkeeper. When asked how loud the stadium was, Adriel had a simple answer.
"One billion percent," Adriel said.
The two cousins are part of the Soka League, a free-to-play youth soccer program in Omaha from Football for the World Foundation, a nonprofit organization.
Joe Marinkovich, executive director of the Football for the World Foundation, said access to the sport isn't always easy for the kids the league serves.
"I think simply it can always be divided into equipment and transportation," Marinkovich said.
Jim Swanson, director of student and family support for the CUES school system, helped chaperone students to Kansas City. He said the value of youth sports goes beyond the game itself.
"Learning sportsmanship, learning how to lose how to win learning how to work in a team, how to be pulled off the field because you don't always win you don't always play," Swanson said.
Swanson said he is looking forward to another fall season that CUES students can play in the Soka League.
For Luis and Adriel, the experience only deepened a passion they already had.
When asked what they want to be when they grow up, both cousins answered without hesitation: soccer players.
"Because soccer is my heart," Adriel said.
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