The U.S. men’s national team’s World Cup run ended Monday with a 4-1 loss to Belgium, but before players left the field, they paused for one final tradition: a group prayer.
As teammates and coaches gathered in a circle at midfield, defender Mark McKenzie stepped forward, knelt and led the group in prayer.
The postgame prayers became a regular sight throughout the World Cup, with McKenzie emerging as the unofficial leader of the tradition despite making just one appearance on the field during the tournament.
What began as a small gathering of a few teammates eventually grew into nearly the entire U.S. squad. McKenzie said he never intended to organize anything formal, instead inviting teammates to join him for a brief moment of gratitude after matches.
“Although it starts out as a moment of prayer, it invites people into what this team is about,” McKenzie told The Athletic. “It’s about love, it’s about togetherness, it’s about welcoming people. It doesn’t matter what your background is, we are family.”
He also said the tradition developed organically because “there’s power in prayer,” adding that he wanted the moments to center on thankfulness regardless of the result.
“Postgame is an intense moment because you have a win, loss or draw,” McKenzie said. “Sometimes, it’s great that you win. Sometimes it sucks that you lost, and sometimes you go into a draw and you’re, ‘Oh, we deserved it’ or ‘Ugh, we should have come out with more.’ (The prayer) kind of just gets you back grounded like, no, we’re blessed to even be here. You know what I mean? We’re blessed to even have this opportunity on this stage.”
Several U.S. players, including captain Christian Pulisic, have also participated in team-led Bible studies during the tournament, making faith a major part of the team’s World Cup journey.
