The 2026 FIFA World Cup is finally here, and fans across North America are ready to cheer on their favorite teams.
And many young soccer fans will get the chance to cheer on those teams while standing on the grandest stage itself.
At every World Cup game, children between the ages of 6 and 10 will escort players onto the field before kickoff.
It’s a tradition that dates back to 2002, when UNICEF and FIFA partnered for the “Say Yes for Children” campaign.
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This year, FIFA’s breakfast sponsor, but also the sponsor for the player escort program, is Quaker Oats.
“Together, we teamed up with 30+ community organizations across 11 United States host cities to give 1,400 young people from underserved communities the chance to walk players onto the pitch,” Quaker says in a press release.
In Atlanta, that community organization chosen for all eight World Cup games, is Soccer in the Streets. A nonprofit giving kids across the greater Atlanta area a chance to learn about soccer no matter their economic or social status.
This year alone, 2,500 kids will benefit from Soccer in the Streets programs.
“Access starts with making it free for all kids so that no one is, has a barrier of cost to playing this beautiful game,” says Soccer in the Streets Executive Director Kaseem Ladipo.
Ladipo says with a partnership with Common Goal, another national organization, their free inner-city soccer league, StationSoccer is the official player escort at the World Cup games in Atlanta.
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Under StationSoccer, each soccer field is conveniently located near six different train stations across Atlanta.
Ladipo says 150 of their players will be escorting players at the eight games at Atlanta Stadium.
“They’ll have an opportunity to be hand in hand with a FIFA legend or soon-to-be FIFA legend.”
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Two of those 150 play at the West End location.
“It’s definitely turned our household into a football household,” says Erica Holloman-Hill, a mom of four boys who play for StationSoccer.
Erica says she’s still learning about the sport, but says her boys playing in this free league has helped them grow in more ways than she imagined.
The youngest, Asun, is 8. Then Asir, 10; Asad, 12 and the oldest, Asim, 14. Erica named them the “A-team.”
When asked what their favorite part of playing with each other is, Asad immediately said, “we get to teach each other skills, and we get to see how good they are.”
Erica tells FOX when she first heard about the vision for StationSoccer, she was hesitant. But now her four boys are going strong two years in.
And with the world’s largest tournament in their backyard, her two youngest sons will get a chance of a lifetime.
Under the Quaker Oats partnership, Asun and Asir were chosen to attend a ‘Breakfast Academy’ hosted by Quaker.
“We learned a lot of things about the fine grains, whole grains, half grains, water, fruit and all the other stuff,” says Asun.
After learning about nutrition and showing great leadership on and off the pitch, Asun and his brother Asir, were selected to walk alongside players at the South Africa vs Czechia game on June 18th at Atlanta Stadium.
Asir says he’s excited, but also, “a little bit kind of nervous because I never escorted anyone.”
He says every day he’s thinking about being on the pitch, but even when he’s not awake.
“I think about it in my sleep, too.”
