The other World Cup: Spain make their debut at the Special Olympics Unified Football World Cup in Paris
Some debuts are written on the skin long before you step onto the pitch. Spain's Special Olympics side —sixteen athletes with and without intellectual disabilities— play the Unified Football World Cup for the first time, a tournament that kicks off today in Paris and runs until Saturday the 11th. Spain begin on Tuesday against India in Group B.
Some debuts are written on the skin long before you step onto the grass. In a Paris dressing room, sixteen red shirts bearing the letters ESP hang waiting, each with its number and, above it, the name of the person who will wear it. Behind every number lies a story of effort, of shared training sessions and of a dream that today stops being one: for the first time, Spain's Special Olympics team play the Unified Football World Cup. And they do so on Europe's home soil, in the French capital.
The squad is made up of sixteen athletes with and without intellectual disabilities who have come from Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Aragón, Catalonia and Madrid. Different cities, different accents and one flag stitched to the chest. The competition, organised by Special Olympics International and Special Olympics France, brings together 24 teams in Paris —12 men's and 12 women's— from all over the world. It is the third edition and the first to be held in Europe, after Chicago in 2018 and Detroit in 2022. The matches run from today until Saturday 11 July.
Spain are drawn in Group B and have three dates marked on the calendar: India on Tuesday the 7th, Libya on Wednesday the 8th and Ecuador on Thursday the 9th. After that first phase, the teams are split into different competitive divisions according to their results and the level shown on the pitch, so everyone keeps playing and facing opponents of their own standard. The grand final will be played on Saturday the 11th.
“This is going to be a historic week for Special Olympics España. Our team represents everything we stand for as an organisation: inclusion, effort, companionship and sport as a driver of change. We are very proud to see our athletes represent Spain at an event of this magnitude,” says Miguel Sagarra, president of Special Olympics España.
From the bench, head coach David Falcón highlights months of work: “The team arrives very well prepared for this competition. After all the preparation, the players have shown great commitment and constant improvement. We are ready to take on this challenge with confidence and excitement.”
The ones who tell it best, though, are the players themselves. “We are very proud to represent Spain. It is going to be a unique experience and we want to enjoy it together. We will give our best on and off the pitch,” says Sergio Viñas, athlete and co-captain of the team. Beside him, Omar Sánchez, a unified athlete and also co-captain, adds a line that sums up the whole point of this: “We arrive in Paris eager to compete, to learn and to show what people with and without disabilities can achieve by working together.”
That last idea is the heart of the tournament. The Unified Football World Cup is played under the Unified Sports model, which allows athletes with and without intellectual disabilities to compete in the same team. It is not a symbolic gesture: through the principle of meaningful participation, every member is guaranteed a genuine role in the game. In the men's competition, each team is made up of 16 players and, on the pitch, 6 athletes with intellectual disabilities and 5 unified athletes are on the field at the same time. Eleven footballers, one single idea of a team.
When it comes to the kit, Spain have a new backer. Decathlon España, the official clothing and sports equipment provider of Special Olympics España, is dressing for the first time the national team representing the country in an international unified football competition. It is a collaboration through which both sides reinforce a shared commitment: that sport should truly be for everyone.
The team making history in Paris is made up of Ismael Collantes, Santiago Martínez, Adrián Pablo and Omar Sánchez (Castilla y León); Miguel García and Hugo Muñoz (Castilla-La Mancha); Carlos Camín, Víctor Blasco, Jorge Díaz, Sergio Viñas, Iván Terreros and Juan José Marín (Aragón); Didac Montalbán, Héctor Montalbán and David Naranjo (Catalonia); and Guillermo Oliver Moraleda (Madrid). Leading the bench are coaches David Falcón (Aragón) and Alberto Mateos (Castilla y León).
Special Olympics España is a non-profit organisation that promotes the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities through sport. With year-round sports programmes, it provides access to training and to regional, national and international competitions for thousands of athletes. Recognised by Spain's Higher Sports Council (Consejo Superior de Deportes) and a member of the Spanish Paralympic Committee, it is present across the country's 17 autonomous communities, as well as in Ceuta and Melilla. Today it brings together more than 20,000 participants and relies on more than 5,000 coaches and volunteers who make it possible to practise over 30 sporting disciplines.
So, while the FIFA World Cup tightens into its quarter-finals, another World Cup is being played in Paris that deserves the same attention and the same applause. The one belonging to sixteen players who, in their brand-new ESP shirts, take to the field to prove that football is bigger when there is room for all of us. Good luck, Spain.
Source: Special Olympics España press release (AcentoenlaCé communications office).