WTFC = World Transplant Football Cup from 14 September to 18 September 2026 in Frankfurt

This journey started on the 24th of June 2026. I was invited by Matchis stemcelldonation to visit the meeting of the ETG = European Transplant Games and Matchis the Open Air Museum in Arnhem to meet both organisations and present my biography in our book "Het is een wedstrijd" (also in English as e-book "It's a Match") available at www.franspaymans.nl. At this event, I spoke to Mr. Peter van Maurik, representative and organiser from the organisation TransfitNl. He told me about the Transplant Football teamNl and the possibility to enjoy the Dutch teams at the WC in Frankfurt. A few days later, Gabrielle Strumpel, also representative and organiser from TransfitNl, called me to tell about this organization and the coming WC in Frankfurt from 14th September to 18th September 2026. I was very interested in this great chance to restart my football career after I had to stop, forced by the club when I was 33 years old in 1994 by NEC Nijmegen. After being registered at TransfitNl, I had the chance to be one of the players of teamNl for the WC of transplant football in Frankfurt this year. It was another great step to be registered in the "system" of the organisation of the WC in September 2026. After this difficult process, we are ready to take part with a team of 9 players and we will stay for one whole week in Frankfurt at a hotel as a team together. The next step for me was to join the team by the training organized by Transfit. The first training was on the 19th of July in Lienden and the second was on the 19th of August in Loosdrecht. In the meantime, I was training a lot for myself at the gym at De Baat in Wijchen, training with the team of my son at Quick Nijmegen and during our holiday in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany. The last stage for now was yesterday at the Gift for Life cup in Hilversum at sc 't Gooi. We enjoyed a well-organized tournament for teams of transplant players, doctors, etc. And this morning, I was again at the gym for a recovery training. After today, it is two weeks before the start of the WC. Last week on the 20th of September was the draw for the WC, which teams will face each other in Frankfurt. The result of the draw was for TeamNl a group of five teams. We, the Netherlands, are in one group together with Chile, Colombia, Romania, and England. We will travel to Frankfurt on the 12th of September and the tournament will start on the 14th of September. Friday the 18th of September will be the final. If you are interested, please support our team live in Frankfurt or in another way. Thank you very much!