When the biggest sporting event on the planet kicks off June 11 in Canada, the United States and Mexico, players representing the United States will have access to chaplains offering spiritual and pastoral support throughout the tournament.
Meanwhile Canada, like most other countries competing in the FIFA World Cup, has no established national-team chaplaincy system.
Rev. Brad Kenney, founder and executive director of Soccer Chaplains United and volunteer lead chaplain for MLS’s Colorado Rapids, says the United States stands nearly alone among major football nations in providing consistent volunteer chaplaincy across both its senior and youth national teams.
“ It’s the U.S Men’s and Women’s National Team that has the most developed chaplain teams of any of the developed nations that are in the World Cup, totalling about 10 total across their system this year,” Kenney told The Catholic Register.
Even though soccer and football chaplaincy happens in countries like Canada, England and Scotland, “it isn’t a national team presence,” he said.
For Kenney, a minister in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, the issue extends far beyond Team Canada, which is preparing for only its third men’s World Cup appearance. He sees it as part of a much broader challenge facing international soccer. While club-level chaplaincy has become increasingly common in leagues such as Major League Soccer and the USL Championship, national-team ministry remains inconsistent and underdeveloped across much of the world.
While other nations may occasionally receive informal support, as seen when chaplain Mike Richards of USL Championship club El Paso Locomotive FC assisted Jamaica’s national team, Kenney says such arrangements remain rare and inconsistent.
“Club soccer has ownership as a business. It’s seen differently than a national team that has players gather for a short, intense period of time, and then they scatter again back to their club teams. That takes a lot of energy, resources and wise timing to effectively work with those teams through international matches and competitions, and so it’s been one of the major barriers towards developing national team chaplaincy,” he said.
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Vancouver’s BC Place Stadium — temporarily renamed Vancouver Stadium for the FIFA World Cup, will host seven matches in June and July. (Wikimedia Commons)
It’s a disappointing reality for Kenney and fellow soccer chaplains, who say they have seen firsthand the impact spiritual support can have on athletes, coaches, staff and families navigating the emotional highs and lows of elite sport.
Kenney recalled the 2010 MLS Cup Final in Toronto, when his Colorado Rapids defeated FC Dallas. While he experienced the joy of victory alongside his team, he also watched the FC Dallas chaplain consoling devastated players after the match.
“Even today, I’m reminded of Psalm 23 and ‘walking through the valley of the shadow.’ That shadow in soccer is many different things, injuries sustained, contracts not renewed, the lifestyle of moving from place to place, not achieving or succeeding at certain levels, it could even be death,” he said.
“Chaplains mirror the activity and action of God in walking alongside these athletes as a reflection of Christ in those moments, whether they are athletes, coaches, staff members or family.”
The World Cup, Kenney says, presents a unique opportunity for chaplaincy because of soccer’s extraordinary ability to unite people from different nations, languages, cultures and faith traditions in a single global event.
“Think of the billions of viewers that watch the global game. Chaplaincy also gives us a beautiful opportunity as we watch nations come together to play. There are so many parallels that we can find within Scripture that we can connect people into. We see all tribes, nations and tongues coming into this one place in need of support,” he said.
Soccer Chaplains United currently includes 30 chaplains serving teams across North America at levels ranging from MLS clubs to academies, youth and high school programs. Kenney says expanding national-team chaplaincy would require stronger professional standards for chaplains, additional training opportunities and greater openness from organizations such as FIFA toward recognizing spiritual care as an important part of athlete wellbeing.
“The phrase that remains is that we don’t need religion in the locker room, but what that misses is that we are spiritual beings. To neglect or put aside spiritual care is not holistically caring for our (athletes) — it’s shortsighted, and it misses the mark,” Kenney said.
With the World Cup returning to North America for 16 host cities across three nations, Kenney hopes the event can still become a turning point for athlete wellbeing within international soccer.
“We have this momentous opportunity, likely the biggest tournament of our lives, coming back here to North America, and I think we are going to walk away going, ‘Did we miss an opportunity?’ and for me, ‘Did I miss an opportunity to grow chaplaincy within the game with these nations?’ ” Kenney said.
For Canada, the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be a first in more ways than one. It marks the country’s debut as a host and, many hope, a turning point for the sport’s future at home.
Canada has reached the tournament only twice before — in Mexico in 1986 and in Qatar in 2022 — but the chance to co-host with the United States and Mexico is widely seen as a moment that could reshape the game’s profile nationwide.
Toronto’s BMO Field and Vancouver’s BC Place Stadium — officially branded Toronto Stadium and Vancouver Stadium during the tournament — will host 13 matches between them, including Canada’s opener on June 12 in Toronto.
Toronto will host matches June 12, 17, 20, 23, and 26, along with a July 2 first-round knockout match.
Vancouver will host matches June 13, 18, 21, 24, and 26, along with a July 2 knockout match and a July 7 second-round knockout match.
Canadian Catholic News, with B.C. Catholic files
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