In Miami, Footballs Are Turned Into One-of-a-kind Art As FIFA World Cup 2026 Nears

Lili Cantero thinks of soccer as family.

The artist from Paraguay — someone who has built a devoted following in the soccer world, with her work admired by Argentina captain and Inter Miami star Lionel Messi, among others — still has fond childhood memories of gathering with relatives around a radio to listen to matches almost every weekend.

“That's where my love for the game began,” Cantero said. “For me, soccer, futbol, is being with family and being with friends. The game is not just a game. It’s a culture. It’s love. It is family. It is friendship.”

And now, it is her work.

Leading up to the start of the World Cup in June, Cantero will be putting her speciality — painted soccer balls — in 10 different businesses in the Miami neighborhood known as Wynwood, a place known for having turned warehouses into art galleries and where just about anything can be turned into a mural. It is the heartbeat of the Miami art community, and for Cantero, the marriage of her work and soccer seemed a perfect fit.

“I think it’s the perfect combination in the perfect moment with the perfect people,” said Cantero, who has called Miami home for about 2 1/2 years. “Messi coming in this city was ... an interesting way to grow this sport here in this city and in this country. Because many kids, they look at him with so many aspirations and dreams and everything, so think they can make a decision to play this sport and also to grow in this sport. And I think that’s beautiful.”

Cantero's approach is simple: she believes soccer, like art, can bring people of different races, different backgrounds, different languages, different everything, together. Her biggest break might have come in 2018, when a pair of soccer cleats she designed — adorned by images of Messi and his family — were sent to the soccer legend. Messi posed with the cleats, the image of that moment went viral and Cantero suddenly had the game's official seal of approval.

Diego Maradona and Pele both knew of her work. Same goes for former Brazil forward Ronaldinho, FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Messi's former Barcelona and Inter Miami teammate Jordi Alba, among many others. Her first stop for the Wynwood series of ball displays was last week when she unveiled one depicting how Spain won the 2010 World Cup.

“I feel honored to be known for this art and what I do," Cantero said. “I think art and soccer has the power to change the world. It changed my life, so I can tell that that’s true. And when you go to favelas (a word used to describe impoverished Brazilian neighborhoods) and you see like the kids playing, thinking the only way that they could do something in life is through soccer, that's art for me.”

Wynwood is always bustling; art and fashion dominate the area, and there is no shortage of people working hard to ensure everything stays vibrant. The World Cup will bring tens of thousands of people to South Florida, and Wynwood wants them to know they're all welcome in that art district.

“We’re always promoting the arts, we’re always changing the arts in the neighborhood, the murals,” David Lombardi, the chairman of the Wynwood Business Improvement District, said at the unveiling of Cantero's first ball in this series. “It’s vibrant, it’s changing, it’s alive, and people want to be a part of it.”

Cantero never played the game, but is addicted to the game. She showed up for the first unveiling in a Spain jersey — mindful, yes, of how that nation ousted Paraguay, her homeland, on the way to that title.

Some soccer balls take Cantero days to paint. Others take her just a couple of hours. At the unveiling of this project, she even did some work — setting up a tablet to her left, looking at an image of Spain star David Villa celebrating a goal during that 2010 World Cup.

With deft flicks of her right hand, she added that image of Villa, bit by bit, to the back of the ball, oblivious to the crowd gathered around to watch her work.

Every soccer ball she's designing in this series will depict another World Cup moment.

“I grew up in Paraguay, and everyone tells me you cannot make a living with art. And now I’m doing this, far away from my country, representing who I am and my roots,” Cantero said. "It's been an honour.”

AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup