A handwritten letter passed to a FIFA official at a FIFA World Cup 2026 match in Miami has led to one of the tournament's most moving human stories — a surprise gift of two footballs signed by Cristiano Ronaldo for two young brothers, Michael and Vladimir Berestovsky, who live with muscular dystrophy.
A chance meeting in the accessible seating section
Alina Hoberg, FIFA's Human Rights and Sustainability Coordinator, was conducting routine ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessibility checks during the Colombia v Portugal match in Miami when she encountered the Berestovsky family. Hoberg was moving through the accessible seating sections, asking fans whether they needed mobility assistance, when the family caught her attention.
"They told me that they had the best time of their lives because this was the first match that they saw Ronaldo play live," Hoberg recalled. "The boys were smiling. They were happy. And so when they gave me the letter, I knew I had to do something about it — I couldn't let them down."
A family's long devotion to Ronaldo
For the boys' mother, Anna Berestovsky, the connection to Ronaldo stretches back decades. She first watched him on television at 15. Her younger son, Vladimir, had been a devoted fan since the age of 5, wearing his Ronaldo jersey to school every day — even after muscular dystrophy had taken away his ability to walk.
The family had endured a particularly hard year, with both boys undergoing leg surgery shortly before FIFA World Cup 2026 began. In the lead-up to the tournament, Anna had written letters to television channels and organisations hoping to arrange something special for her sons, but received no response in time.
Undeterred, the family used help from relatives and friends to secure tickets to the Portugal match. Anna's husband happened to have a second letter in his backpack that day — not by plan, but by instinct. "He said: 'Honey, why don't I give it to someone? A FIFA rep, a journalist. Maybe we can do something extra,'" Anna recalled. With no pen available, her husband wrote her phone number on the letter using her mascara.
The letter that changed everything
Several people were offered the letter. Hoberg accepted it. "I can't promise anything, but I'm going to try my best," she told the family. The following day, she brought the letter to the FIFA office and, working with a colleague, traced a route through Team Services to Portugal's base camp.
After Portugal's 2-1 win over Croatia in the round of 32, Ronaldo signed two footballs in Toronto, Canada. Those balls were shipped back to Miami.
"In a few days, she sent me a text message, and when I saw it, I was stunned," Anna said. "Honestly, I started to cry."
The surprise at the bronze medal match
FIFA invited the Berestovsky family back for the bronze medal match between England and France — a 6-4 victory for England — without revealing what awaited them. It was there that the signed footballs were presented to Michael and Vladimir as a surprise.
The experience moved the entire family so deeply that they launched an Instagram channel the same day, with footage from the moment of the reveal set to be their first post. "This whole thing is really inspirational," Anna said. "They wanted to inspire other families, other kids — that dreaming is great, but in order for your dreams to become a reality, you need to work hard every day. But keep dreaming. This is very important."
