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Four simple ways to engage the nations as the world gathers for the biggest event on earth. By Aaron Myers  This summer, the eyes of the world will be on North America as Canada, the U.S., and Mexico host the 23rd FIFA World Cup. Teams and fans from across the globe will travel to cities throughout the continent to take in the action. While the Super Bowl draws over 100 million viewers each winter, the World Cup reaches nearly 5 billion people worldwide. Soccer (football) is the world’s game—played by more people, in more countries, than any other sport. And the World Cup is its greatest stage. This summer, the nations are coming to us. This global moment is not accidental. In Acts 17:26 the Apostle Paul says, “From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find Him . . . “ As the world comes to North America in June, many will come from places where there is little if any gospel witness, places where Bibles or churches are hard to find and from countries where Christians are persecuted. It is a Kingdom opportunity and now is the time to begin to prepare to step into the good works which God is preparing for His church to do. We can do that in four simple ways. Learn The posture of a disciple of Jesus is the posture of a learner. The World Cup creates unique opportunities for individuals, families and communities of faith to learn about His creation, the vast panorama of cultures and languages and faith backgrounds. Here are a few ideas: Who is Playing? - Part 1 The World Cup begins with group play where four teams play one another and the top two teams from each group move on to the knockout stage. You can see all of the groups and the countries in each group at the Wikipedia page for the 2026 World Cup. This is a great place to begin learning about the countries who have qualified and even where they’ll be staying. The Algerian national team will be staying in Lawrence Kansas, the Saudi Arabian national team will be in Austin, Texas. [Wikipedia: World Cup 2026] Who is Playing? - Part 2 Now that you know who the teams are and what nations they represent, visit the Joshua Project page for each country where you can learn what the status of Christianity is in each country. Below you can see a screenshot of Joshua Projects page on Algeria and the United States. This visual paints a picture of what missiologists mean when they use the word “Unreached.” In the U.S., 76.5% of people would identify as Christian, and 26.6% are part of an evangelical church. In Algeria, a nation of over 47 million people, only 0.1% would identify as Christian—and there is no measurable evangelical presence. In the United States, a person can encounter a Christian almost anywhere. In Algeria, those opportunities are nearly nonexistent. Joshua Project is an excellent resource to learn about the countries and the people who will be visiting this summer. [Explore at Joshua Project]  What is Soccer? It may be a funny question but let’s admit it—most reading this article did not grow up playing soccer and may not be all that interested in the sport. For the sake of the gospel however, I want to encourage you to learn. The unreached of the world love this sport. They love it passionately and so gaining a little knowledge is a simple act of kindness. Learning to care about the things others care about not only increases our ability to have conversations, it grows our compassion and empathy. It may be a bit of dying to self for some of us, but isn’t that what Christ calls us to do? [Learn from Bundesliga] Pray Once you’ve learned a bit about the nations coming to the World Cup, I want to encourage you to begin praying for the teams and the fans that will accompany them. This is an important first step we can take to engage the nations among us. Here are a few ideas to help you foster prayer during the World Cup. Prayercast Prayercast has created some amazing prayer videos for every country in the world. As the World Cup approaches, begin prayerful watching and praying through the Prayercast videos for each of the countries coming to play. Watch the Algeria Prayercast video below. [Find a Nation at Prayercast] World Map Find a large world map and post it in your home where you can see it and then mark each of the countries who are coming to play in the World Cup as a way to remember to pray. Operation World Operation World has resources for prayer for every country on earth including country summaries, powerpoint slides for group prayers and their Pray for the World book. [Visit Operation World] Mobilize Others The World Cup creates a fun and engaging opportunity to mobilize your family, small group, or church into learning, praying and potentially going to the nations. The nations will be all over the news this summer and it will be good news. Here are a handful of ideas for mobilizing others. The FIFA Bracket Challenge Americans love their fantasy sports leagues and so inviting a group of friends from church to play FIFA’s bracket challenge creates some friendly competition and with it, an opportunity to get to know the teams and the nations they represent. Use this as a launching point for discussions and prayer about unreached people groups from the countries that are playing. [FIFA Bracket Challenge] The Church FIFA Wall Find a wall at church where you can hang a large world map. Put a pin in each country coming to play that attaches to a country information card or page. Have prayer cards and other information available for people to take home and commit to pray. Post all the groups and then the bracket for the knockout stage and keep it up to date as the tournament progresses. Group play begins June 11th and the tournament final is on July 19th so you’ll have over a month to highlight the nations. Host A Watch Party: Invite a group from church or a small group to come together to watch a key match. If your church has missionaries serving in one of the countries that are represented, this could create a unique opportunity to learn more about the country. Bring resources to give to everyone and be sure to utilize halftime to watch the Prayercast video for that country. Cast vision for the spiritual needs and send everyone home with a prayer card. Adopt a Team: Choose a team that is from a country where there are unreached peoples and challenge your congregation to pray. Be sure and create opportunities for learning, awareness and prayer. And of course, as mentioned before, host a watch party. Order small hand held flags from the country to give to everyone. Reach Out With the World Cup coming to North America, each team will bring with it their fan base. Many already live in the U.S., Canada or Mexico and many more will travel here to take in a game or just to be near the action. There are sixteen locations between the three countries [see map] and you don’t need to buy a ticket to the game to reach out. Fans will be in the host cities and around the stadiums for days during the group stage and they’ll be really easy to find. Just look for the Turkish or Algerian or Saudi flags and jerseys. Here are a few ideas for reaching out. Sports Event Evangelism SEE has been taking teams to sporting events for outreach and are preparing to do so again for the World Cup. If you live near a host site or are willing to travel, check them out. [Learn More and Join a Team] Host a Watch Party CRU has created the Victory Beyond the Cup resource to help any individual or group host a watch party right in your community. If you have immigrants and refugees in your community they’ll be watching the World Cup and this resource will give you the resources and materials to invite the nations into your home or church for a meaningful World Cup event. [Get Your Host Kit Here] Give a Gospel The Pocket Testament League has World Cup themed, pocket-sized Gospels of John. Order a pack of ten or 100 in English or in any number of languages that will be represented by World Cup teams. [Pocket Testament League] Connect Online Did you know that hundreds of thousands of people from all of the countries that are coming to this global event are wanting to connect with native English speakers online for an opportunity to practice speaking English, to connect and to build new friendships? Speak Truth Cafe provides unique opportunities for North American Christians to connect with students in a non-North American country, who wants to improve their English conversational skills and is willing to do so by reading the Bible during those English conversations. They would love to help you connect. [Get Started: Speak Truth Cafe] If you’d be interested in forming an online outreach team within your local church community to connect with people from Turkey specifically, I’d love to help you get started. Reach out to me through the About page. Let The Games Begin The World Cup is more than a sporting event, it is a moment of global gathering. The nations are coming to North America and I hope this article has sparked a few ideas for you and your church to partner with God this summer. Let’s learn from one another. What ideas do you have in these four areas—Learn, Pray, Mobilize, Reach Out? Share them in the comments section below so we can encourage and equip each other to engage the nations together. Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, share it with your friends. Further Reading: Four Ways To See The Nations At Our Doorstep
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