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Professing Faith Through Soccer

Professing Faith Through Soccer

Last updated on: July 6, 2026 at 8:33 pm by Laurika Nxumalo

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Professing Faith Through Soccer 2026-07-06T20:33:44+02:00 Laurika Nxumalo

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All eyes are on the 2026 FIFA World Cup that started eleven days into the month that Pope Leo has dedicated to the values of sport. In honour of the soccer festivities, I would like to highlight the history of the Catholic Church’s ties to the beautiful game, including the papal teachings about soccer and US soccer players who proudly profess their faith.

Photo by Pixabay

The origins of Calcio Storico Fiorentino, can be traced back to the 16th century in Italy. The sport was once quite popular and is believed to have started in Florence’s Piazza Santa Croce, where it is still played to this day; it’s also part of the annual festivities when the city honors its patron saint, St. John the Baptist on June 24 (call it a Florentine profession of faith through soccer). Here, it was dubbed the Giuoco del Calcio Fiorentino, or just calcio, which translates to “soccer” in Italian. Many nobles, including members of the Medici family, used to play Calcio Storico around Epiphany and Lent. Popes including Urban VIII, Leo XI, and Clement VII would take part in the sport within the walls of the Vatican City.

Arena del Calcio Storico Fiorentino in Piazza Santa Croce – Photo by Wikimedia

The match that was played in 1530 was one of the matches that truly cemented the legacy of Calcio Storico. Three years earlier, the Florentines resisted Medici authority, leading to the banishing of the Medici family and turning Florence into a theocratic republic. The Holy Roman Emperor was not pleased with this, and in 1529 he besieged the city in an attempt to restore his political allies’ control. On February 17, the soldiers who were guarding Florence’s walls took time off work, went to Piazza Santa Croce, and played a game of Calcio Storico. The enemy’s camp was on the hills where Piazza Santa Croce was most visible. The guards wanted to prove to the enemy that they had not dampened the city’s spirit.

1924 saw the formation of a Swiss Guard team. In a notable game in 1946, the Holy See squad triumphed over Vatican City. Twenty years later, in 1966, the first Vatican City soccer team was established. The team went by the name “SS Hermes Musei Vaticani” and it was made up of museum guards and restorers.

There was also the Vatican Amateur Sports Association (Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica “Sport in Vaticano”), which was established in 1972, and made up of museum guards, Swiss guards, and Papal advisors. It hosts the Sergio Valci Cup, an annual domestic round robin tournament for men played at the Vatican City. Currently, the squad only plays friendly matches.

The Popes and soccer

When you observe the relationship the last four Pontiffs have had with soccer, you could think that all Catholics should be soccer players.

In his homeland, Poland, Pope Saint John Paul II was a notable goalkeeper. He once said that soccer is the most important of all unimportant things. In a document titled “Giving the Best of Yourself” that was published on June 1, 2018, by the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, the late pontiff wrote,

“The Church considers sports as an instrument of education when they foster high human and spiritual ideals and when they form young people in an integral way to develop in such values as loyalty, perseverance, friendship, solidarity and peace.” ~ John Paul II, Address to a delegation of “Real Madrid Club de Futbol” soccer team, 16 September 2002.

As for the late Pope Benedict XVI, he played soccer in Germany as a young man and was a Bayern Munich fan. On January 9, 2008, at a Wednesday General Audience, the athletes and directors of the level D Italian soccer league were greeted by Pope Benedict XVI with these words,

“May the game of soccer always be more of a means of teaching the values of honesty, solidarity and fraternity, especially among the younger generations.”

As for Pope Francis, he was an ardent supporter of the Argentine team, San Lorenzo de Almagro and a lifelong soccer enthusiast. In his youth, in Buenos Aires, the Pontiff was a goalkeeper. The pope often promoted solidarity, peace, and teamwork throughout the world by making reference to the sport. On Friday, 19 February 2021, at the Clementine Hall, the following statement was part of Pope Francis’s greeting to the players and managers of Sampdoria football club,

“…sport, and football too, is a path of life, of maturity, and of holiness. You can go ahead; but always as a team, always as a team, this is important.”

Maradonas’s jersey donated to Pope Francis. Photo by Wikimedia

Then there’s Pope Leo, who is a sports lover – from playing American football in his youth to playing soccer as a defender later on in Trujillo with seminarians. While in Barcelona, Pope Leo met with members of diocesan charitable and assistance organizations and he said the following about soccer,

“Soccer helps us remember something very important: that life is not a race to be run in solitude; it is something played as a team, and we must learn to run together.”

Soccer players and their faith

Matt Freese, U.S.A. – “God’s given me so many opportunities within this game and within my career… I still have a role to play in that. I still have to do my part and take that opportunity and do something with it.” Sports Spectrum

Matt Freese – Photo by Wikimedia

Mark McKenzie, U.S.A. – “Every day that goes by is a day where I have to look up and say, ‘Thank You, Lord, for seeing me through this,’” Sports Spectrum

Mark McKenzie - Photo by Wikimedia

Mark McKenzie – Photo by Wikimedia

Christian Pulisic, U.S.A. – “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. With that behind me, nothing can stop me, really.” CBS Sports

Christian Pulisic – Photo by Wikimedia

St Irenaeus once wrote, “The glory of God is a human being fully alive.” Sport is one of the human activities that embodies the wonder, beauty, and magnificence of God’s creation. There is definitely something intrinsically positive about it, which is why it will continue to draw people from all over the world.

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