TUCSON — For Lautaro Civetta, soccer has never just been a game.
He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where the sport is woven into everyday life. He grew up playing pickup on the streets, idolizing Diego Maradona, and watching entire cities grind to a halt when Argentina took the field. His first World Cup memory is from 1990, when he was just 6 years old. The passion never left him.
"It's… a religion where I'm from. The whole city stops for a match," Civetta said.
In 2006, he spent the summer in Buenos Aires with his father during the World Cup and felt that religious experience firsthand.
Civetta moved to the United States in 1989, eventually settling in Tucson. He played pickup soccer in Connecticut with a tight-knit Argentine and Brazilian community, dabbled in intramural soccer in college, and then spent about 20 years as a spectator. Coaching was never part of the plan, until his daughter started playing.
When her preschool friends began splitting off into different school districts, Civetta did not want the group to lose touch. So he built a soccer team to keep them together. And since he put it all together, he ended up as the coach. Now in his second season leading a co-ed 6U team, he says it has become one of the most rewarding challenges of his life.
Then came the phone call that changed everything.
Verizon was running a series of giveaways tied to the 2026 World Cup, and Civetta entered a raffle for the chance to interview a professional soccer player. He won, landing a video call with U.S. Women's National Team star Alyssa Thompson, who plays for Chelsea, and her sister Giselle Thompson.
Civetta and his daughter spent a week preparing questions. He figured if that was going to be his World Cup experience, it was still something special to share with her.
But the call took an unexpected turn.
"So we're doing the questions, getting the texts, really engaging young woman, and you know Victoria's talking to her and she just interrupts us… pulls out what's called the golden ticket," Civetta said.
Front-row, on-field access to see Argentina face Algeria at the 2026 World Cup in Kansas City.
And not just any Argentina match: a chance to watch Lionel Messi play in person. For a kid who grew up in the Maradona era and spent decades dreaming about moments like this, it was almost too much to process.
"It's surreal, surreal because I didn't expect I was gonna make it to a game, let alone this pitch side experience," Civetta said.
The golden ticket moment started as something Civetta shared with his daughter, but after what he called a "democratic vote" at home, it was decided his best friend Alejandro Amenta would be the one to join him. The two have been friends since 1995, bonded almost entirely by their shared love of Argentine soccer.
"We've been friends since 1995 and since then all we've talked about is Argentine soccer. So to have that, to share that… it's amazing," Civetta said.
The two spent this past weekend soaking in the fan fest, even getting the chance to meet the artist behind the new World Cup anthem "La Cuarta Estrella." And with kickoff approaching, Civetta said he has been trying not to over-imagine the moment because he knows when Argentina walks out onto that pitch, no amount of preparation will be enough.
"Just cloud nine is what I'm gonna describe it as," Civetta said.
