(RNS) — When Lamine Yamal, Spain’s teenage star, dropped to his knees after scoring at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, he wasn’t just celebrating a goal. He was performing sujood — an Islamic public expression of gratitude to God — in front of millions of viewers who may never have seen the Islamic prayer before.
While some have said over and over again that soccer (football) is the closest thing that the secular world has to a universal religion, different faith traditions have been showing up during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Here are five recent examples.
1. The pope reminisced about football
“I was not a great goal-scorer,” Pope Leo XIV said on June 10, one day before the FIFA World Cup opened, during a meeting with diocesan charity and welfare organizations at the Church of San Agustín in Barcelona. He recalled playing American football in his youth before later playing soccer with fellow seminarians in Trujillo, Peru, “as a defender, if you are curious.”
The pope also said he later followed local football teams closely while serving there.
Using football as a broader lesson, he said: “Soccer also helps us remember something very important: life is not a race to live in isolation; it is a team sport, and we have to learn to work together.”
Youths stage a soccer match during a meeting with Pope Leo XIV and the diocesan community at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium in Madrid, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
2. Sujood showed up on football’s biggest stage
At this year’s tournament, Yamal drew attention after performing sujood, bowing to God, bringing the islamic prayer …