The men running sprints, taking turns at penalty kicks and rushing for the ball have been training for years to represent the United States on the world stage. Some crashed and tumbled, but they got up quickly, the coach’s commands echoing over a soccer field on Long Island on Saturday: “Go, go, go! Keep the ball rolling!”
Their speed and aggression would make it easy to overlook the fact that every one of the outfield players uses crutches to push forward on one leg. The goalkeepers block shots with one arm.
They came from California, Colorado, Massachusetts and other states to a sports complex in Kings Park, N.Y., where they spent the weekend doing drills in preparation for an upcoming friendly match against Poland. They knew the coach had his eye on them as he finalized the roster of 15 players — the best out of more than 200 aspirants — to represent the United States at the World Amputee Football Federation World Cup in San Juan de los Lagos, Mexico, in November.
The players showed a sense of purpose that defied limitations: the desire to win.
“Whenever it’s competition, it’s just kind of a hyper-focused mentality of having one goal,” said Jovan Booker, 32, of Mattituck, N.Y. “It’s really where we just get to go out and play the beautiful game, and not really think too much.”
Much of the world’s attention is shifting to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which kicks off this month in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The men who converged on Kings Park on Saturday had taken part in regional tournaments organized by the American Amputee Soccer Association. A few World Cup roster spots remained to be filled, and the lineup could still change.
The head coach, Jason Fiscina, of East Northport, N.Y., a college coach and special-education teacher, watched the players as they jostled on the field. They want to be seen as competitors, he said, with no tinge of sympathy.
“They are doing something because they’re very skilled and talented at it,” said Fiscina, 36.
They are training to hold their own against skilled regional rivals like Mexico and Brazil, and bracing for powerhouses like Angola and Turkey. W.A.F.F. first staged a World Cup in 2012. The United States, which first competed in the tournament in 2014, has never come close to winning it.
The men are awake early on training days, pumping themselves up, Fiscina added.
“Our group chat is blowing up in the morning with what work they put in,” he said. “They are elite at what they do and there’s a reason why they are going to be representing the red, white and blue.”
Nzirimwo, 22, who is known as Musa, grew up in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he lost his leg at age 7 when a bomb exploded near him. He trained to play on crutches, at a speed few can match, and joined the team in 2018.
He is fired up about the Cup.
“It feels like I want to cook,” he said. “I feel powerful. Free.”
The team, he and other players said, is family.
The captain, Nicolai Calabria, 32, of Boston, said even some people who are close to the players don’t understand the dedication it takes, with grueling workouts and days spent on the road, often at their expense.
Calabria, known as Nico, has played “with folks who had two legs,” but the amputee players became a brotherhood, he said, where all that matters is “my skill, my toughness.”
It comes down to a man facing other men on a level playing field, and exerting his power. “Yes, I have a disability,” Calabria said. “I have one leg, but I am, you know, I’m still a full person.”
What their playing looks like is battle: the clang of crutches clashing; men huffing and grunting; then, the powerful smack of a shoe and a goalkeeper hurling himself in front of a cannonball.
In one practice sequence, Nzirimwo and Liam Fanning, a 15-year-old playing among men, squared off on the sideline. Fanning, of York County, Pa., went at Nzirimwo, who became a blur of motion as he bounced side to side, keeping the ball away from his crutch to avoid a handball foul. Nzirimwo ran away with it.
Minutes later, the confrontation repeated itself, only this time Fanning snatched the ball and scored. (He will be a month shy of the minimum age of 16 when the Amputee World Cup starts on Nov. 13; Fiscina is pleading for an exemption.)
Down the other sideline, a crush of men converged around a loose ball. Calabria took it, but he suddenly crumpled. He had taken an elbow to the face.
At the end, the men huddled, coated in sweat.
They raised their crutches, bringing the tips together, and they yelled in unison: “One, two, three, U.S.A.! Four, five, six, family!”
