The world's most-watched sporting event is famous for athletes like Lionel Messi and Lamine Yamal, but the grit of lesser-known players representing small but scrappy countries is where the real inspiration lies.
Inspired by Pope Leo's link between soccer and the spiritual life, Michael O'Connell will be covering the World Cup for NCR. He'll review the most spectacular moments and note the suffering and injustices also present.
Assessing the soccer tournament's success "asks us to look more carefully at what success means," writes Guilherme Lopes. "Who benefits? Who feels welcome? Who participates? Who bears the burdens?"
As the FIFA World Cup opens on across the U.S., Mexico and Canada, a group of Dominican friars, sisters and lay leaders is calling on Catholics to pay attention to the people who may be left behind by it.
In Latin America, the passion of soccer fans is nurtured through a sense of community. The singing of anthems, tears shed after victories or defeats and the embrace of strangers inside a stadium are experiences that can mirror forms of collective devotion.
NCR Vatican correspondent Justin McLellan got a belly laugh when he asked the pontiff to hold off praying for his beloved Chicago White Sox when they played the Philadelphia Phillies, the reporter's favorite team.
As the 2026 FIFA World Cup approaches, Catholic dioceses across the United States are preparing for what many see as both a pastoral opportunity and an unprecedented moment of global encounter.
