For most of the 50,000 volunteers at the FIFA World Cup 2026™, being at the heart of the greatest show on Earth is an unforgettable opportunity. But for Nancy Tituaña Morales, the first volunteer to be offered a role out of more than one million applicants, it is so much more.

Helping FIFA bring the tournament to millions of fans across Canada, Mexico and the United States, and billions more around the world, is the culmination of a determined journey back from tragedy and pain to happiness and hope.

Born in Ecuador, Tituaña grew up playing football, falling in love with the game from an early age. Football helped her build a strong bond with her late father, with whom she would go to the stadium to watch local clubs LDU Quito and Deportivo Cuenca and the Ecuadorian national team.

“I went to the stadiums, I went to watch the teams, the teams in my country, my father’s team,” she said. “I remember when (Ecuador) qualified for the (FIFA) World Cup for the first time. It was in 2001. This time was crazy. I enjoyed it with my father.”

Tituaña trained as a nurse in Ecuador and later moved to the United States, finding herself needing to start her life over “from scratch”. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she began volunteering with a community food programme, eventually helping to establish her own non-profit, Brigada de Esperanza NYC, alongside friends. The group has gone on to support hundreds of families across New York City every week.

It was while delivering food to a family affected by COVID-19 in Queens, New York, on 24 June 2020, that Morales’ life changed forever.

“I remember when I opened the trunk of my parked car, somebody (who was very drunk crashed) into me,” she said. “I was (pinned) between the two cars. After this, I don’t remember anything.

“I remember only [waking up] after 50 days. [I could only] move my eyes. I was connected to a lot of machines around me. Then, I [couldn’t move any part] of my body. Then, I remember, step-by-step, I was disconnected from the machines. After five days, from when I woke up, it was maybe 19 or 20 days after the accident, I could speak a little bit. Those days [were] very hard due to the pain. The pain was inexplicable.

“Then, 30 days after, I was [put into] a coma again for one week. When I woke up again, the doctor said, ‘You need to decide: keep your life or your leg’. I said, ‘OK, I choose my life’. I had my left leg amputated and the pain was very difficult for me. I couldn’t move due to the pain. I [lost] my left leg. Then, I said, ‘OK, my leg is very important, but thank you, God, for a new opportunity.’”

She was fitted with a prosthesis which, she jokes, makes here a “bionic woman” but the recovery process was long. She spent a year in hospital, then months relearning to move, first in a wheelchair, then on crutches, and now with a cane. But she has bigger goals.

“I think, in the future, I will play soccer again,” she said. “I want to play. I miss playing.”

She hopes to be walking unaided within the coming year, and holds long term ambitions of one day running the New York Marathon. The recovery was challenging, physically and emotionally, and for a while thinking of football brought only pain.

“After my accident, I couldn’t even look at a ball without crying,” she said. “I thought that part of me was gone forever.”

Despite her accident, Nancy never stopped volunteering. She continued to support Brigada de Esperanza and also helps at her local immigration centre, while studying criminal justice at college – a change of course after she decided her future lay in helping others rather than in business. It was a close friend, fellow FIFA volunteer Carol, who first encouraged her to apply for the FIFA World Cup 2026 programme. “I said, ‘OK, I don’t need [to think about it twice]; only one time’,” Tituaña said.

After she started the process of joining the volunteer team for the FIFA World Cup 2026, she was finally able to reconnect with the sport. She was handed a Trionda match ball during her Volunteer Team Tryouts session – a moment that moved her to tears.

“For the first time in years, I held a soccer ball again. It was an incredible moment – a mix of joy, nostalgia and gratitude. It reminded me that dreams can rest, but they never truly die,” she said.

The Volunteer Team Tryouts set the wheels in motion for Nancy to later be confirmed as the first official volunteer of the FIFA World Cup 2026. More than one million people applied to be part of the programme, and Tituaña says being chosen feels like nothing less than fate.

FIFA had one more surprise in store: during a follow-up interview, which happened to fall on her birthday, Tituaña was officially recognised as FIFA’s Unsung Hero in New York New Jersey. She was so preoccupied with nerves about being filmed and a volunteering shift later that day that she had forgotten the date herself, until a cake was wheeled out, followed by a replica trophy.

To yet another huge surprise, she also received a personal video message from her favourite current player, Ecuador midfielder Moisés Caicedo, welcoming her to the tournament and an invite to attend Ecuador’s Group E fixture against Germany.

At that match, held at New York New Jersey Stadium, she was joined in the stands by a close friend and fellow FIFA volunteer, and by her nephew – for whom it was also his graduation day. To add to the occasion, Ecuador won the game 2-1 and qualified for the round of 32.

After the final whistle, there was one more surprise in store for Nancy. She was brought down to the pitch, where she watched the players make their way through the tunnel before meeting three of them outside the dressing rooms. Caicedo spent some time talking with her, before signing her prosthetic leg – a permanent reminder of a journey that carried Tituaña from a coma ward in Queens to becoming the first volunteer of the FIFA World Cup 2026.

This is a tournament that has delivered joy and emotion for millions of passionate fans around the world, but for Tituaña, this FIFA World Cup 2026 represents something deeper.

“The (FIFA) World Cup, for me, is everything,” she said. “I made everything with FIFA. This represents me, everything.”

While every volunteer deserves recognition – and will be celebrated throughout the tournament – some individuals have stories that are truly extraordinary. FIFA launched the FIFA World Cup 2026 Unsung Heroes project to recognise their courage, selflessness and determination as they go above and beyond and inspire everyone around them. They are the tournament's ultimate Unsung Heroes.