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The World Cup stage, on which Lionel Messi and other international stars have dazzled with their magic, may have offered the potential to stretch imaginations even further.
For example, imagine how Messi might play if he were an amputee.
Or if he were to need a wheelchair. Or be blind, or deaf, or a person with dwarfism, or having any disability that precluded him from playing traditional soccer -- but opened up the world to adaptive sports for athletes with disabilities.
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Many of America's elite soccer players with disabilities were eager to demonstrate their skills during the global soccer tournament co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada. Advocates sought help to make it happen.
But the vision officially faded when Spain defeated Argentina 1-0 for the 2026 FIFA men’s World Cup trophy Sunday, July 19 and the tournament came to an end. Adaptive soccer -- adapted to allow anyone to participate --has lingered in the shadows.
“I think it's a huge missed opportunity,’’ Nico Calabria, a four-time captain of the U.S. Men's Amputee Soccer Team, told USA TODAY Sports. “You missed a big marketing opportunity, and there's not another one coming around.’’
Riley Johnson, who as a member of the U.S. Power Soccer team plays with a modified power wheelchair, said the World Cup could have increased the awareness of a form of soccer few people have seen.
“I talk to people about Power Soccer all the time,’’ Johnson told USA TODAY Sports, “and 99% of the time they've never heard of it.’’
Lexi Heer, another member of the U.S. Power Soccer team, added, "I think the beautiful part of the game is just the passing when everyone gets it going. I mean, same thing in the able-bodied sport...When you see a really great passing sequence that leads to a goal, it's just beautiful.''
Adapted soccer produces viral moments
Calabria, 32, was born without a right leg. But with the use of crutches, he played for the boys' high school team at Concord-Carlisle High School in Concord, Massachusetts.
In 2012, off an incoming corner kick, Calabria scored a goal with a perfectly executed scissor kick.
The game was being filmed.
A video clip was posted online.
Calabria's goal went viral.
Almost 13 years later, here came the World Cup. Calabria lives less than an hour’s drive from Gillette Stadium, which would host seven World Cup matches. And perhaps a demonstration involving Calabria, if not at Gillette Stadium, a nearby field or at one of the official World Cup fan zones?
But Calabria never found a place on or near the World Cup stage to show off his powerful left foot or his juggling skills.
But like the viral clip of Calabria's scissor kick goal, adaptive soccer has produced other compelling moments. Like a video clip that captures the pinpoint passing of Power Soccer. Or an improbable goal during a Blind Soccer game during which the ball rattles or jingles to help the players locate it on the field.
'A fraction of what soccer can be'
Joslynn Bigelow is president of the United Adaptive Soccer Association in Oregon. In 2023, she won the third annual U.S. Soccer ADAPTandTHRIVE Disability Award.
She is a disability advocate and adaptive-soccer leader who saw the World Cup as an opportunity to expand awareness, investment and lasting pathways for players with disabilities.
Bigelow participated in U.S. Soccer’s ADAPTandTHRIVE Working Group, an adjunct to the Disability Soccer Committee, and helped document and compile the committee’s collaboratively developed plan for action. One initiative, ‘Leveraging Future Global Events,’ called for the committee to work with U.S. Soccer, FIFA, and host-city organizing committees to pursue adaptive soccer exhibitions and competitions, match-day opportunities for players with disabilities, and educational collaboration in host cities. These were collective goals to pursue - not promises made by Bigelow or guarantees made by U.S. Soccer, FIFA, or local organizers.”
In 2024, while working U.S. Soccer's Disability Soccer Committee, she helped document and compile the committee's collaboratively developed plan for action. The plan involving the World Cup sough cooperation between U.S. Soccer, FIFA, and host city local organizing committees on goals that included:
-- To organize and schedule athletic events (i.e. shared Disability Soccer Organization (DSO) training camp, exhibition matches, friendlies, and competitive matches around the dates of games.
-- To seek participation of DSO players presence in pre-game walk-outs and other match-day opportunities, exhibition matches and competitive matches for the disabled will be scheduled around the World Cup dates and organized by U.S. Soccer, FIFA and the local organizing committees of host cities.
During 2026, according to Bigelow and others in adaptive soccer, here is what materialized:
The Seattle local organizing committee for the 2026 World Cup hosted a Blind Soccer tournament featuring teams from the United States, Kazakhstan and Peru three weeks before the World Cup began. Michael Holmes, CEO of the U.S. Association for Blind Athletes, said the estimated crowd of 175 people was the largest to watch a Blind Soccer match involving the U.S. team.
Amputee soccer players held an exhibition at the U.S. Soccer House in Venice, Calif., during the World Cup, according to Dan Broome, Vice President of the American Amputee Soccer Association. Broome said soccer players with the Special Olympics also played at the U.S. Soccer House.
Said Bigelow, “We brought the world to North America for the biggest celebration of the game and still showed people only a fraction of what soccer can be.’’
FIFA responds, U.S. Soccer responds
FIFA, the worldwide governing body for soccer, runs the World Cup held every four years. When asked about opportunities for disabled soccer players during the 2026 World Cup, a FIFA spokesman said the organization has “done a lot to promote accessibility in sports for those living with various disabilities.’’
The spokesman said that the organization included a Disability Football Toolkit and a seminar on accessibility ahead of the World Cup.
“I think we are also promoting a number of different causes at the World Cup,’’ he said, citing education and peace.
In December, the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize was awarded to President Donald Trump
FIFA has supported adaptive soccer with an undisclosed amount of money from its robust coffers. The spokesman did not provide specifics.
U.S. Soccer said its activations featuring American Amputee Soccer Association and Special Olympics North America at the U.S. Soccer House during the World Cup were "designed to highlight different formats of the game and provide fans with opportunities to learn more about disability soccer.''
U.S. Soccer also said it fully funds the following teams: U.S. Men's Deaf National Team, U.S. Men's Cerebral Palsy (CP) National Team, U.S. Women's Cerebral Palsy (CP) National Team and U.S. Power Soccer National Team.
The Arthur M. Blank U.S. Soccer National Training Center, a $250 million, 200-acre complex in Fayetteville, Georgia, that opened in May, includes a special court for Power Soccer. Riley Johnson, a 13-time national team player in Power Soccer, said U.S. Soccer consulted with the adaptive soccer community when designing the facility.
“We got everything we asked for and then some with how they built that facility around accessibility for all,’’ Johnson said.
What happens next
Holmes, CEO of the U.S. Association for Blind Athletes, raved about what Seattle local organizing committee did for the blind soccer players during the three-team tournament in May. But he also said, "I think all of us in the disability soccer community had slightly higher hopes on what we would be able to display and do in the disability soccer side."
Broome was effusive about the amputee soccer demonstration at the U.S. Soccer House, where able-bodied people were offered crutches and a chance to try the sport. But Calabria said it feels like adaptive soccer is “fighting over crumbs.’’
“I do think it comes down to money and whether or not these types of (adaptive) sports can become profitable,’’ Calabria said. “… And that's why the lack of promotion of these events, which would've been the cheapest and easiest thing [REMOVE USSF OR REPLACE WITH LOWERCASE 'US'] to do, I think is a huge missed opportunity.’’
“I do think it comes down to money and whether or not these types of (adaptive) sports can become profitable,’’ Calabria said. “... We have to have attention. And that's why the lack of promotion of these events, which would've been the cheapest and easiest thing to do, I think is a huge missed opportunity.’’
But the opportunity, Bigelow said, "is not entirely gone although the broader, ecosystem-wide visibility envisioned around the World Cup materialized only in limited and localized ways.”
“What happens next will determine whether inclusion was simply tournament language or an actual commitment,’’ Bigelow added. “…Adaptive soccer does not need another brief inspirational cameo - it needs a permanent place in the game.”
(Editor's note: This story has been updated to correctly identify Blind Soccer, with a response from U.S. Soccer and for clarity.)
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Spain wins World Cup, 'huge opportunity' squandered on global stage
