Jordan Adams stood in the players' tunnel in Atlanta, Georgia ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ semi-final between England and Argentina and tried to take in the situation he found himself in. A day earlier, he had been sat on a plane, without a match ticket, ahead of a flight across the Atlantic, and posted a video to social media outlining his quest. “It's been quite the 24 hours for me. Leaving Heathrow yesterday with no ticket. I had a conversation with my wife after the quarter-final and just said, 'I'm gonna chance it, I'm gonna pay for a flight out here and put that social media post up in Heathrow on the tarmac'. And who would know that kind of 24 hours [I've had],” he said, speaking in the tunnel before kick-off.

Adams and his brother Cian, who are known online as the FTD Brothers, have spent recent years raising awareness of frontotemporal dementia and supporting research into the condition, in memory of their mother. Alongside that tireless fundraising and awareness work, Jordan has never disguised his passion for football, whether it be for his local club Birmingham City F.C. or the England national team, and so he was delighted when FIFA gave him the chance to be a guest at the game. “Here I am, in the tunnel where the players are gonna walk out ahead of England v Argentina, the biggest stage in the world, [FIFA] World Cup semi-final,” he said. “This is like an absolute bucket list moment, something that I just feel so grateful to be able to experience, especially with everything I've been through in my life as a family. And I'm certainly not taking it for granted and [I'm] just so thankful to not only FIFA, but also Kobbie Mainoo as well, who reached out originally to me and offered me a ticket. It just... it feels so surreal, but I'm just so grateful to be here.”

Adams, from Redditch in Worcestershire, England, began, with his family, caring for his mother, Geraldine, after she was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) when he was still at school. In 2018 he learned that he carries the same genetic mutation responsible for her illness. “Back in 2018, I was given a formal diagnosis that means I'm a carrier of a mutation that causes a rare form of frontotemporal dementia, which has taken my mum's life. She was diagnosed at the age of 47 and died at 52,” he said. “Myself and my brother, my sister, and my dad helped care for her in the family home and football's always been a huge outlet for me, whether it's following my beloved Birmingham City... and following England at tournaments has always been kind of the highlight of the year, when it’s a FIFA World Cup in particular,” he said.

Adams has followed England at major tournaments for as long as he can remember, and one of his most vivid personal memories of a FIFA World Cup is also one of his hardest.

“I look back to the 2010 (FIFA) World Cup and my mum got formally diagnosed on the day of the third group game when James Milner whipped the ball in; Jermaine Defoe headed the ball in, we won 1-0 (against Slovenia) and got through to the knockout stages. And it went from being that joyous occasion to later that day, kind of the worst day of my life, where my mum was formally diagnosed with dementia… I’ve always said to myself since my diagnosis, if I ever got the opportunity to go to a (FIFA) World Cup semi-final then I’d have go, have to at least try to make it there,” he said.

That opportunity finally came this week. Speaking about his decision to fly to the United States without a ticket, Adams said: “I'm 31 years of age now and I know within the next 10 to 15 years that dementia is going to strip me of everything that makes me who I am. It's going to strip me of all the memories that I'll make. And that's why it's so important for me to live now in the moment, and that's why I live life in the fast lane. And I just thought the other day, I looked at flight prices, I thought: 'You know what? It's worth spending the money and just taking the gamble.' Because I'd be kicking myself if somebody offered me a ticket and I was still in the UK and couldn't get across. And, yeah, I just feel very, very blessed to be in this situation.” The evening ended in disappointment for England fans with Argentina winning 2-1, but for Jordan it was an occasion that will stay with him. “To be able to say I was there, against Argentina as well. What a game. There’s not much bigger in world football,” he said.