Moroccan players pray after scoring during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group F match between Belgium and Morocco at Al Thumama Stadium, Doha, Qatar on 27 November 2022. 
“For centuries, theologians have struggled to precisely understand the role of sports, including football, in God’s greater purposes. In a Christian perspective, the ancient Olympic Games were a celebration of pagan Gods. With athletes competing in the nude, serious-minded Christian Puritans saw no other option than to place sports completely outside of God’s realm. In fact, it was not until the Industrial Revolution and the popularization of modern sports, including football, that Christians tapped into sports as a ‘potential classroom for morality and a platform for evangelism.’ In recent years, scholars of religion have gradually turned their attention to sport, assessing contemporary sport for its quasi-religious aspects and as one of the most popular and significant dimensions of human experience in the 21st century. …”
Africa Is a Country