U.S. Players Gather Again to Thank God after World Cup Heartbreak

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The U.S. World Cup team that captured the nation’s heart with its passion and postgame prayers once again gathered in a circle Monday night, thanking God after a tournament-ending loss to Belgium.

The U.S. men’s team fell behind early and played its worst game in months en route to a 4-1 loss to Belgium in the Round of 16 — but then did what it had done after every other match in the tournament: gather in a circle at midfield with coaches and staff to pray. Once again, defender

Mark McKenzie led the prayer, kneeling on one knee as the others in the circle bowed their heads.

The moment was captured in photos and videos across social media, including by ESPN’s SportsCenter, which posted images of it on its accounts.

Faith was central to this year’s team, with players such as McKenzie, forward Christian Pulisic and goalie Matt Freese openly expressing their beliefs.

Despite the loss, the U.S. team took a major step forward, winning its group for the first time since 2010 and posting back-to-back World Cup wins for the first time since 1930. Its opening win in the knockout round over Bosnia and Herzegovina was its first in that stage since 2002.

“It’s been such an incredible journey,” Pulisic told Fox Sports after the game. “I never wanted it to end. I’m just so thankful to all the American people that supported us and gave us that boost. It was definitely a summer I’ll never forget.”

Pulisic said the tournament also showed the progress the United States has made on the world stage.

“We need to get over that next hurdle and try to compete and beat the world’s best, and that’s the next step for us. It wasn’t quite there today, but I think we showed a lot of good things that we have potential to do it, but there’s still another step that we have to take,” he said.

Midfielder Tyler Adams echoed that sentiment, saying the team’s run gave Americans reason to believe that soccer in the nation is heading in the right direction.

“I think if we gave fans and the people that supported us throughout this journey, even a 1 percent belief that we’re a growing country in the game, and that we have the players and caliber to do that — the mentality, the physicality, all these kinds of things — that we did something right. Again, it wasn’t going to happen overnight. I know in the moment, it feels exciting when we do well, and it hurts a lot when we do bad, but there’s so many positives, so many players put in great performances over the entirety of this tournament.”

Adams added that he believes the team’s success will “hopefully help inspire a whole generation.”

Photo Credit: © YouTube.com/Fox Sports

Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel. 

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