KATHMANDU: A ten-year-old football fan from Kathmandu has become one of Nepal's youngest ambassadors at the FIFA World Cup 2026, travelling 8,500 miles to Dallas to watch Argentina play live — and taking Nepal's flag and a Visit Nepal banner along for the ride.

Aaron Pandit, a Class 5 student at Euro School in Kathmandu, made the trip to the United States at the invitation of his uncle, Rajib Raj Bhat, turning what had been a childhood dream into reality at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas, where he cheered on his favourite team Argentina in their match against Jordan.

A devoted fan of Lionel Messi, Aaron held up the Nepali national flag and a Visit Nepal banner inside the stadium — a small but visible moment for Nepal on one of sport's biggest stages, with millions of football fans watching from around the world.

It was not the first time the Bhat family had used the World Cup as a platform to promote Nepal. Earlier in the tournament, Rajib Raj Bhat had already drawn attention to Visit Nepal during the Argentina versus Austria match, placing Nepal in front of a global audience of football fans.

For Aaron, the trip marked something simpler and more personal — a boy from Kathmandu, in a stadium in Texas, watching the player he had long admired, with his country's flag raised high in the crowd.