More than 50 Washington, D.C.-area youth were brought together for an afternoon of soccer, learning, and community connection to commemorate the final stretch of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The National Mall hosted a community soccer event on Tuesday, July 14, at the Visa Street Soccer pitch and the BofA Fan Zone within the FIFA Fan Experience. Visa, the official payment technology partner, and Bank of America, the official bank of FIFA World Cup 2026, worked together to sponsor the event.
“What’s been amazing about Visa Street Soccer and the Bank of America partnership is that it’s just lifting up communities. You know, there are folks all across the country that are playing this game that love it, but they need an affordable, accessible place to play. Your soccer team should be the fabric of your community. I think every kid deserves that and deserves to grow up within that context,” said CEO and founder of Street Soccer USA, Lawrence Cann.
Cann has served as CEO of Street Soccer USA for 17 years. Cann’s long career in humanitarian causes has had an impact both locally and nationally, as Street Soccer USA began as a single program and has since grown to more than 20 programs across the United States.
Founded in 2009 in Charlotte, NC, Street Soccer USA’s mission is to fight poverty and strengthen communities through soccer. Street Soccer USA focuses its efforts on “neighborhoods where 33% or residents live below the poverty line and where graduation rates are between 55-65%” according to their official website.
Notable attendees of the event included Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL), Chair of the Congressional Soccer Caucus, and Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-SD). Those in attendance found plenty to do while at the FIFA Fan Experience.
The FIFA Fan Experience gave attendees opportunities to: play soccer on the Visa Street Soccer pitch, create and personalize a BofA Fan Band, and explore the Soccer at Schools experience, made possible through a partnership with U.S. Soccer and the Soccer Forward Foundation, which aims to bring soccer-focused programming to schools nationwide by 2023.
“Our partnership with the FIFA World Cup, U.S. Soccer, and Street Child United is helping make the confidence, teamwork, and self-discipline that sports can build more accessible to young people,” said Larry Di Rita, President, Bank of America, Greater Washington, D.C.
Street Child United, in partnership with Bank of America, attended the event as part of their #IAmSomebody Tour, a five-city North American tour that aims to change how street-connected young people are perceived by individuals worldwide. The tour brings SCU Young Leaders from the Street Child World Cup to neighborhoods and leaders across North America during the FIFA World Cup 2026.
“I remember the first opportunity I had to play in DC Scores, which was a big opportunity because I didn’t have money at the time. I didn’t see the United States as a place to play soccer because of the fact that it costs money to play here. I’ve had teammates, current teammates, even here, that say that it costs 10s of 1000s of dollars to even play semi-professionally here. DC Scores has done a lot of great things for me. It’s been able to do a lot of great things for my friends. If it wasn’t for DC Scores, I would not have the friends I have today,” said 16-year-old goalkeeper Cristoval Cartar.
Founded by D.C. public school teacher Julie Kennedy in 1994, DC Scores works to create safe environments for students to explore athletics, poetry, and leadership opportunities with the goal of using the skills they learn to give back to their communities through service learning projects.
