MUST SEE: The Moment US World Cup Team Bows in Prayer to God Before Entire Stadium After Critical Victory
At times like this, we thank God for the distance we have traveled since the dark days of triumphant wokeness.
Make no mistake, the woke god of self-conceit will not sink quietly into the abyss. But when it does rear its ugly head, the faithful need only turn their eyes heavenward.
On the pitch Wednesday evening after the United States Men’s National Team’s rousing 2-0 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina in the knockout stage of the World Cup, USMNT players gathered around defender Mark McKenzie, who led the team in prayer.
Sean Feucht, a prominent Christian with more than 213,000 followers on the social media platform X, posted a 20-second clip of the prayer.
With McKenzie on one knee, hands raised toward heaven, dozens of players and others with bowed heads put their arms around each other and formed a circle around the man who, by all accounts, has emerged as their spiritual leader.
“Man, there is something so special about this team,” Feucht wrote.
Team USA gathers to pray again shouting their praise & thanks to God over the noise!!!🙏🏽🔥🇺🇸
Man, there is something so special about this team. pic.twitter.com/sZH1X9EM5Q
— Sean Feucht (@seanfeucht) July 2, 2026
Above the stadium noise, one could not quite make out all of McKenzie’s words. Nonetheless, one Facebook post made at least some of those words intelligible.
“Heavenly Father,” the Christian defender began, “we thank you right now for this day you have made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Thank you for the victory.”
A few inaudible lines followed before McKenzie concluded.
“You deserve all the honor and praise right now,” he said. “Amen!”
Of course, for those who have followed the USMNT in recent weeks, the post-match prayer was a familiar sight.
“Although it starts out as a moment of prayer, it invites people into what this team is about,” McKenzie told The Athletic last month, according to the sports- and faith-focused news outlet Sports Spectrum. “It’s about love, it’s about togetherness, it’s about welcoming people. It doesn’t matter what your background is, we are family.”
Indeed, to say that McKenzie has his priorities in order would qualify as the understatement of the year.
Last month, for instance, the impressive defender told Sports Spectrum that fans’ positive reaction to his Christian-themed social media posts “helps me understand that the sport that I’m playing is not gonna last forever. But the work that I do as a disciple for the Lord — that’s the real work that needs to be done.”
Better yet, McKenzie has plenty of company, both on the USMNT and in the World Cup generally.
The American squad, for instance, features several outspoken Christians, including midfielder Cristian Roldan, goalkeeper Matt Freese, and star forward Christian Pulisic.
Moreover, the expressions of faith at this World Cup have international dimensions.
The King’s Return, a tournament-wide Christian movement, features players performing perhaps the greatest goal-scoring celebration in sports history. Instead of drawing attention to themselves, the players get down on one knee, remove an imaginary crown from their heads, and place it on the ground in front of them as a way of honoring Jesus, the true King.
Of course, establishment sports media outlets, generally hostile to Christianity, distorted the gesture. Some even reversed its meaning by reporting that one German goal-scorer had crowned himself.
To its massive credit, however, ESPN’s SportsCenter did post photos of Wednesday’s McKenzie-led prayer on X.
Mark McKenzie led the USMNT in prayer after the Americans moved on to the Round of 16 🙏 pic.twitter.com/scEBXAO3ow
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 2, 2026
In 2024, the woke Summer Olympics in Paris featured a grotesque, gender-bending parody of The Last Supper.
For years before that, the Megan Rapinoe-led U.S. Women’s Soccer Team literally bent the knee to the god of wokeness.
In those awful days, who would have believed that a player like McKenzie, a team like the 2026 USMNT, and a movement like The King’s Return would help bring the sports culture back to God?
We pray for the USMNT’s continued health and success as they have advanced to face Belgium in the Round of 16 on Monday in Seattle.
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