The 18-minute film celebrates the stories of three children selected as Official Match Ball Carriers at FIFA World Cup 26

Footballco has produced a short-form documentary as part of Kia’s Inspiration Connects Us All campaign for the FIFA World Cup 26.

Kia is an official partner of FIFA and the documentary, called First Touch, is the culmination of Kia’s campaign, which kicked off months before the FIFA World Cup 26, with a selection process across 10 countries to find 104 Official Match Ball Carriers (OMBC).

The OMBCs have since been central to the campaign and are the focus of the documentary.

The children chosen to be OMBCs have been responsible for bringing the match ball to the referee on the centre circle. 

Since the launch of the campaign, Kia, through global football media and culture company, Footballco, has been telling the stories from the rigorous global talent identification process across 10 markets and celebrating the children during their journeys.

Coaching the children along the way were a plethora of World Cup legends representing the United States of America, Mexico, and Canada, as well as Korea Republic, Brazil, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Footballco’s 18-minute First Touch  film focuses on three children who made it through the selection process to represent their countries. It creates three authentic stories of human interest around a tournament where superstar players are often the focus, says Footballco.

Featured in the film are Andy, from Tampa, USA, Axel of Colima, Mexico, and Ibrahim of Nova Scotia, Canada. The film documents the children’s journeys, the role football plays in their lives, their motivations for wanting to be part of the 49th Team and ultimately their arrivals at and experiences of the FIFA World Cup 26.

First Touch was led creatively for Footballco by executive creative director Pete Liffen, partnering with director Alastair McKevitt to direct the film.

Two seasoned creative studios known for documentary filmmaking, Ventureland (Beckham and The Deepest Breath) and North of Now (Pepsi: Where’s my Jet and Paul American), were chosen by Footballco to produce the film.

Pete Liffen, executive creative director at Footballco said: “When we came up with the 49th Team concept, we wanted to do more than just celebrate the Kia OMBC’s FIFA World Cup moment. We wanted the audience to see that whilst these kids from all around the world walk out onto the pitch as individuals, they are all connected by something much bigger.

“First Touch delivers on that truth in such an authentic and beautiful way. As a business, we believe documentaries like this are an integral part of our own story and our ambitions to reach audiences through storytelling. It’s been a real honour to share this one with a director and our production partners, both of whom cared about the story as much as we did and who brought it to life in a way that only the best in the business could.” 

Brandon Park, head of Kia Global Marketing Communications Group, adds: “At Kia, we believe football inspires and connects us all. Through the Kia OMBC program, we are delighted to give young football enthusiasts the opportunity to experience the FIFA World Cup stage firsthand. We hope this experience helps them take one step closer to their dreams and encourages them to pursue their aspirations with confidence.”

First Touch is being distributed across Footballco’s global football network, including GOAL and leading Arabic football media brand, Koora, which collectively reach over 720 million fans worldwide.