National power soccer team headed to 2026 World Cup
Riley Johnson’s heroics lifted the U.S. national power soccer team to the American Powerchair Football Confederation (APFC) America’s Cup championship and the chance to play for the Federation Internationale de Powerchair Football Association Powerchair Football World Cup title in Argentina in October 2026.
After scoring the game-winning semifinal goal hours before against Brazil in stoppage time, Johnson deflected the championship game-winning goal home off a set piece in the 18th minute in a 1-0 win over Argentina Nov. 19 at Ability360 Sports & Fitness Center in Phoenix. The U.S. had already qualified for the World Cup thanks to its semifinal win but capped the six-team America’s Cup Nov. 16-19 tournament with another exciting one-goal victory.
“Yeah, I mean we’re excited,” Johnson says. “We took third in the last one [in 2023 in Australia]. So, we’re looking to improve our finish. We’re just really excited.”
It was the third straight America’s Cup for the U.S. team, and 31-year-old Pete Winslow and 28-year-old Johnson delivered. That set piece is one they practice all the time. They’ve played together for the past 20 years, including the last 10 on the U.S. national team, and stumbled across the play just by practicing and testing ideas out together. And in the title game, it rocked out.
With Argentina called for a two-on-one violation in the 18th minute, the U.S. was awarded a free kick at the top of the penalty box. U.S. coach Tracy Mayer, Winslow and Johnson knew what they’d run.
On the free kick, Winslow came to the top of the box and did a reverse 360-degree spin turn to the right, while Johnson spun from his left. The ball kicked off Winslow’s kicking guard, bounced off the right of Johnson’s chair, down the middle of the court and then off the left post for the goal.
“We know when we get a call like that where the ball is going to be placed in that area, we know exactly what play we’re running. We can change it on the fly if we need to. But, I mean, it’s one of those plays that’s, you know, a high-percentage shot for us,” says Winslow, a congenital amputee who was born without legs or a right hand and has three fingers on his left hand. “And Riley and I have practiced that so many times, and we’ve converted it so many times. So, we knew we knew we had it.”
For Johnson, it was all about placement.
“I don’t think about anything other than, ‘Which direction am I going?’ And Pete and I looked at each other. Pete said, ‘Middle.’ I said, ‘Yep.’ We went middle,” says Johnson, who was born with arthrogryposis, or a condition that causes multiple joint contractures and muscle weakness throughout the body.
The pair had an opportunity, and Mayer had them go for it.
“It’s an intentional play,” he says. “Yeah, it’s one of those plays when they first started out, it was kind of, there’s a lot of trial and error and a lot of bumps and bruises.”
It marked a wild and frenetic final two games for the U.S. team, which went 5-0 in round-robin play – defeating Mexico (6-0), Argentina (1-0), Uruguay (4-0), Canada (10-0) and Brazil (6-0).
Just hours earlier, Johnson lifted the U.S. to victory thanks to a penalty kick in the first minute of second-half stoppage time against Brazil. It was the second time in less than a day that the two teams had faced each other. The victory, though, helped the U.S. earn one of APFC’s three places at the Powerchair Football World Cup. France, England, Belgium, Italy, Denmark, Australia and Japan have already qualified for the World Cup. It will mark the U.S.’ fifth straight Powerchair Football World Cup appearance (2007, 2011, 2017, 2023 and 2026).