As soccer’s biggest tournament narrows to its final four in North America, evangelists outside the World Cup stadiums are quietly running a tournament of their own.
“You might only have one minute from the time they can hear you. You know you can plant seeds and then later on they’re still thinking about that,” former professional soccer player turned pastor Jesse Bradley told CBN News about the mission field outside Seattle’s Lumen Field.
Bradley is part of Victory Beyond the Cup, a project run by the ministry Cru that has stationed prayer teams and evangelists at 2026 FIFA World Cup venues across the US, Canada and Mexico. More than a million tourists have flooded into the three host countries, and Christian ministries have been meeting them at the gates.
In Seattle, full-time missionary Garrick Pang runs an outreach called Victory Seattle that pairs freebies with faith. His team has been handing out thousands of foam fingers alongside prayer booklets from a British ministry called Try Praying.
“They have bought thousands of the foam fingers things and we’re passing those out for free,” Pang said. “Along with that they have a booklet and in there are interspersed these different testimonies and then it’s a week long program and by the end of the week it introduces you to what it means to be a follower of Jesus.”
The sidewalk outreach mirrors what has been unfolding on the pitch. Christian players across the tournament have used the world’s most-watched sporting event to point cameras — and fans — toward Jesus, a movement Movieguide® has covered all summer.
US Men’s National Team defender Mark McKenzie has been the most visible. His postgame prayer circles started with three teammates and grew to encompass the entire American squad before the US crashed out in a 4-1 loss to Belgium on July 6.
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“Heavenly Father, we thank you right now for this day that you have made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Thank you for the victory,” McKenzie prayed at midfield after the win over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
US forward Christian Pulisic joined McKenzie in a team Bible study called “Bible Time” and has been open about how his faith carried him through recent injuries. He wears a cross necklace his mother gave him and posts Scripture regularly for his millions of followers.
“I’ve had to continue to prove myself over and over again, but, as always, I reach out to God, and He gives me strength,” Pulisic said.
Brazilian defender Danilo Santos knelt to pray after his team lost to Norway on July 5, a moment that spread across social feeds worldwide. Paraguay midfielder Mauricio — who once celebrated a World Cup goal with a “Jesus Loves You” placard and reportedly carries a Bible into stadiums — did the same after Paraguay’s July 4 exit to France.
Colombia midfielder Kevin Castaño, whose team was eliminated by Portugal in group play on June 27, has leaned on Scripture publicly throughout the tournament. He has captioned social posts with Isaiah 41:10 and Joshua 1:9.
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand,” Isaiah 41:10 reads.
Panama defender José Córdoba was photographed praying at halftime during his country’s round-of-16 loss to England in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Argentine captain Lionel Messi, meanwhile, is still standing, set to face Spain in Sunday’s final at MetLife Stadium.
“It’s very clear to me that I was born like this because God chose me. It was a gift he gave me,” Messi told Argentine podcaster Juan Pablo Varsky. “I tried to take advantage of it, I did everything possible to squeeze the most out of it.”
Movieguide® has tracked the prayer circles, the Bible verses and the postgame worship since the tournament kicked off in June. Whether the trophy lifts in Buenos Aires or Madrid on Sunday night, Bradley and Pang plan to keep working the sidewalks in Seattle.
Their scoreboard runs on a different timetable.
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