The 2026 Men’s Football World Cup has just concluded. I normally don’t watch much sport, but I have watched world cup games ever since the 1986 event. I have watched games on the TVs of neighbours, in the university student union, on a borrowed 5.5 inch TV in a student flat, in my parents’ living room, in Cuzco, Peru, after returning from Machu Picchu, together with monks at two different Bolivian monastery, in a railway station in Chile, in a bar in Jerusalem, in a cold shed in the Waikato, and many other places around the world. I generally sought out some opportunity to watch at least some of the games.

This year I did not watch many games. I just did not find the time to do it. After all, a game is at least 2 hours long. There are so many other things that required my attention. I did catch most of the highlights, but that is quite different from watching the actual game. I did watch the final and was pleased that the better team won.

I have heard quite some commentary about the world cup. Some thought that it was a great display of unity, that even countries that are at war with each other can come together to play sport, that differences were put aside to concentrate on the game. Others were quite critical. I heard form some who said that it was a show to distract from the real issues in the world, that football legitimated aggressors on the world stage.

Yet others thought that some of the old ideals of sportsmanship still survived but were overshadowed by corruption and the quite obvious flattering of powerful people. Some were suspicious of the refereeing and thought that some teams were favoured.

As a former football referee myself (only at local and national level), I think that the referees did the best given the circumstances and I did not see any instances of obvious bias. I know how difficult it is to make decisions on the spot, possibly even more so with VAR technology.

But I can see the point of the other arguments: the unity that sport can create, but also the distraction. I can see the corruption in the world of sport, and the emotion, which at times may be good, but often is also misdirected.

It seems that overall we see humanity amplified: selfishness, narrow-mindedness, pretentiousness, calculated opportunism, flawed decision-making, corruption; but also team spirit, sportsmanship, athleticism, and generosity. Anything we humans do will always be marked by the human condition. We can be grateful when more of the good is expressed in those events, in more so when there are truly godly actions.

Speaking of that. Several Spanish team members have talked about their faith. Goal scorer Fernan Torres said after the game: “Thank God, he always gives me the strength to keep going,…”

Spain manager Luis de la Fuente has also spoken openly about his Catholic faith. He said: “Yes, I do believe. I am a Catholic.” “I thank God every day, every day I wake up feeling good, I look at myself and say: another day I can enjoy life. I give thanks for those details. I pray because I pray every day, not for Him to help me more,” he added. “If I pray today and tomorrow, it’s because I’ve been doing it for a long time,” he said.

Whether we enjoy football or not, that at least is good advice.