The headlines:

FIFA World Cup came to the USA in 2026, with games in Canada and Mexico, as well. And 16 cities from those 3 countries hosted part of the contests. The schedules are basically determined 7 years to 9 years in advance. The 2026 FIFA World Cup was determined in Russia back in 2018.

Statistics:

A) Almost 7 million people attended the games in person (some attended more than 1)

B) The 2022 games in Qatar had only 3.4 million

C) The 2018 games in Russia had only 3 million

D) Each stadium averaged a whopping 99.7% occupancy

E) That meant thousands never got to actually go inside any particular stadium.

F) The team roster expanded to 48 teams

G) In the elimination process, Spain wins in the championship game

 

If just the strict ideology of soccer games is revealed, it’s over when a team wins in the final game.

But, just think:

1) How many people were PRAYING for this major sports event to be an opportunity to share their faith?

2) Many visitors from all these countries got to go to many cities and were shocked at how nicely they were treated, and how Americans (for example) opened their hearts to so many from around the world. All these visitors testified in hundreds of video records about how their native country’s media clouded how awesome the USA is. They expected rudeness, violence, indifference, and sometimes hostility. The truth was, almost everyone never saw that. And ALL those people were going back to their home countries with TOTALLY different stories, debunking all the false fabrications they had heard.

 

So “who” won? I would say millions of millions of people won! Not just a Spanish soccer team. So many believers had opportunities to pray with visitors, share their faith with visitors, or bring them to their respective churches. Careful analogy reveals this will go down as a world altering event.

We also know that our Lord orchestrates all things, and ultimately, HE wins!! So, as we celebrate the achievements of kicking a ball through a net as a “GOAL”; we can embrace the fact that as believers, the “goal” of our existence is to reach out to those around us and lead them to the foot of the cross.

So, it isn’t stadium attendance the matters. It isn’t tourism dollars brought into these 3 countries that matters. It isn’t numbers on a scoreboard that matters. It is the moving of the Holy Spirit INTO the numbers of people who attended, and are spreading the word not only of how America is great, but how the WORD got spread about a Savior that REALLY matters!

“Lord, bless the seeds that were planted the past several weeks, and we pray for the fruit to develop around the world! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”