Young athletes and their families celebrated Mundialito 2026 in Los Angeles

Young athletes and families gathered to celebrate culture, diversity and sportsmanship with the Mundialito 2026, a football community event at the Rio de Los Angeles State Park which took place on Saturday.

Co-hosted by Concejo de Federaciones Mexicanas (COFEM) and Anahuak Youth Sports Association (AYSA), the Mundialito represented some of the counties that will play at the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup starting in a few days. 

COFEM Director, Francisco Moreno, said this event was especially important because Los Angeles is one of the host cities for the World Cup games, which is set to start on June 11, but many low income families will not be able to attend. So by having their own game with their own trophy and cheering for their young soccer players makes everybody feel festive. 

June 6 also marked the one year anniversary of the first massive immigration raid in downtown Los Angeles. While the ambiance is more calm this time, people don’t forget all those families who were separated or unjustly detained.  

“Today is very different from last year, today we see children playing soccer, different cultures, different countries and that’s what we want to show, that immigrants are here succeeding in this country,” Moreno said. 

The event also included a resources fair for the families to receive information, help and surprises. 

Raul Macias, founder of Anáhuak, said the sport should not only stimulate people for consumption but also to promote the sport among kids to encourage them to stay active. 

He said the call was made to different groups and in total they included 18 teams with 12 children per team. 

For Macias, this was a very emotional moment as he can still recall 30 years ago when he started the foundation. 

“I remember I had a clothing business in front of the park. I had about 150 employees and many of them had children,” he said. “One day some of those kids came to me asking for $15 to pay for a soccer referee. That’s where it all started.”

Macias said those children eventually brought more children and the list continued growing for decades. 

A legacy to remember

Luciano Maldonado, Pasadena United Soccer coach, said they train children and teenagers with hopes of having them move to more professional leagues in the near future. He also said the sport is motivation for the youth to keep busy and stay out of trouble. 

“We also tell them that if they want to stay, they need to have good grades at school and this also motivates them to do better,” Maldonado said. 

Moreno acknowledged that it was challenging to organize the event, which is the first one of this type, but with the help of Anáhuak they were able to select participating teams. 

“We had teams that are coming from San Bernardino, Las Vegas and Orange County,” Moreno said. “We hope this is the beginning to becoming big soccer players in a professional league.”