Enjoy the World Cup—And Let It Shape Your Love for God and Others
I’m sitting in the stands on a cold and windy night in Wellington, New Zealand. It’s 2023 and I’m watching South Africa take on Italy at the Women’s World Cup. As the athletes and coaches take the field, you can feel the tension and excitement build. There’s a weightiness to this game beyond any other soccer game I’ve ever attended. Surrounded by thousands of fans, I can’t help but feel the transcendent nature of the moment.
There are few global events that capture the attention of the world like the Olympics and the World Cup. FIFA estimates that over a billion (yes, a billion) people worldwide are expected to watch the 2026 World Cup. Such events have a way of marking time. The events are a disruption from our normal rhythms and routines. We find ourselves in conversations with neighbors, friends, and family members about the sporting highlights of the day, as if being a spectator of this global event is a communal activity.
Events like these have a way of consuming our attention, and anything we participate in wholeheartedly has the potential to shape us—for better or worse. Yes, sports can lead us toward the dangerous trap of idolatry, amongst other sins. But sports are more than just a potential sin to tiptoe around. It’s also a gift to be enjoyed for the sheer joy of experiencing it. And it’s a redemptive space that becomes a powerful formation tool that God uses to shape us into the image of His Son.
Yes, it is helpful to identify the ways in which participating in the spectacle of the World Cup can wrongly shape us. However, I wonder how the God of redemption can also use this moment in time to shape us for His glory and our good. If we open our eyes to identify God’s beauty while watching the World Cup, we may just find ourselves shaped with an expanding global perspective of God’s glory, opportunities to engage our neighbors, and joy filled with hope in eager anticipation of the Kingdom to come.
God’s Glory in Global Perspective
“Praise the Lord, all you nations. Praise him, all you people of the earth. For his unfailing love for us is powerful; the Lord’s faithfulness endures forever.” - Psalm 117:1-2
48 countries are participating in the 2026 Men’s World Cup making it the largest World Cup in history. As fans, athletes, coaches, referees, and support staff represent these 48 nations, we get a glimpse of not only the global scale of soccer but the global scale of God’s far reaching love for all peoples. Moreover, we bear witness to diversity we normally do not have the opportunity to experience at this scale in our daily lives. Beholding such diversity gives us a grander vision of God as we consider what it looks like for each human on the planet to be made in the image of God.
As you watch each game, reflect on God’s love for each person that comes across your screen. Notice God’s likeness represented in their cultural expression. Let your perspective of God’s far reaching love and beauty in diversity shape your heart towards worship.
Opportunity for Love
“For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” - Galatians 5:14
As Christians we are called to love. It’s hard to love someone you don’t know. It’s hard to know someone you don’t have a relationship with. If you watch the World Cup, you might notice the amount of commercials that speak to the capacity for the tournament to bring people together. Because so many are watching, it gives us an entry point into conversation with people we may usually avoid or feel awkward making small talk with. It’s common ground. Beyond a simple conversation about the results of that day’s game, it’s an opportunity to display hospitality—an excuse to invite others into your home to partake in one of the greatest sporting events together.
It would be a miss if we did not use sporting events like these to build connection with people Christian and non-Christian for the purpose of knowing each other, building relationships, and showing hospitality. Our friends at Victory Beyond the Cup are tapping into this opportunity by developing resources that equip Christians to use “the world’s biggest soccer moment to build relationships, spark meaningful conversations, and share lasting hope.”
Let the shared experience of enjoying the World Cup with others be a moment for God to shape and deepen your relationships. Who could you invite to share in the enjoyment of a game? How might God use this shared time to deepen your relationships for Christ?
Foresight of the Celebration to Come
“After these things I looked, and here was an enormous crowd that no one could count, made up of persons from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb dressed in long white robes, and with palm branches in their hands. They were shouting out in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!” - Revelation 7:9-10
On that bitter cold night in 2023 at the Women’s World Cup, anticipatory celebration was in the air. The game from start to finish unfolded like a tension filled drama as both teams needed a victory to advance in the tournament. Although it was hailing and raining, the stands held thousands of people from various countries there to watch the drama unfold. The scoreline bounced back and forth which built suspense and excitement. Then the moment came: South Africa scored the game winner late into the game making it 3-2. The crowd erupted in celebration. Strikingly, each person in favor of South Africa celebrated in their own cultural expression. The South Africans chanted and danced with immense joy to the sound of their vuvuzelas. The Americans, my colleagues and I, shouted until we had no voices left. The New Zealand fans clapped with appreciation for the experience. Yet there was unity in that celebration as we all shared in the victory.
I cannot help but to see this experience as a small glimpse of the celebration to come. A glorious celebration when all nations will gather together before the throne of God to celebrate the ultimate, unifying victory of the Lamb. It will be the culmination of tension being put at ease as heaven and earth fully collide. There will be shouting, dancing, singing, chanting, and joy filled expressions of worship. The greatest celebration of all time will be focused not on a sporting achievement that will fade with time but on the eternal, everlasting victory of Christ Jesus that ushers in a new reality.
As you watch the celebrations during the World Cup, let your mind drift to the forthcoming celebration of the world at the foot of the cross. Let this vision shape your heart and mind toward the hope to come.
The World Cup will be filled with magical moments that feel almost transcendent. Those moments have the power to form our understanding of the God who is truly transcendent. If we pay attention and become clay in the potter’s hands these next few weeks, we may just leave changed. Not by a magical World Cup moment but by a God whose love extends to all nations, invites us to a deeper community, and promises the restoration of all creation.
