{"id":3164,"date":"2026-07-02T21:08:33","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T21:08:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3164"},"modified":"2026-07-02T21:08:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T21:08:33","slug":"the-u-s-world-cup-team-celebrates-its-big-win-wednesday-with-a-team-prayer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3164","title":{"rendered":"The U.S. World Cup team celebrates its big win Wednesday with a team prayer"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>The U.S. advanced to the Round of 16 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup after beating Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3162\">Everything we know about a possible Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce wedding at Madison Square Garden this weekend<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Americans played through the last 25 minutes of regulation and an additional 10 minutes of stoppage without Folarin Balogun after losing him to a red card.<\/p>\n<p>To celebrate the win, the entire U.S. team \u2014 staff and players \u2014 gathered in a circle with their arms around each other as center back Mark McKenzie, who has yet to play at this World Cup, led them in prayer.<\/p>\n<p>The moment was even featured in Fox\u2019s broadcast of the match.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Mark McKenzie led the USMNT in prayer after the Americans moved on to the Round of 16 \ud83d\ude4f pic.twitter.com\/scEBXAO3ow<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 2, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The prayer was captured on video by Ballers In God, an organization McKenzie partnered with ahead of the World Cup to spread messages of faith, according to TheAthletic. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cHeavenly Father, we thank you right now for this day you have made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Thank you for the victory,\u201d McKenzie said in the video.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\ud83d\udd0a\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 Listen to Mark Mckenzie pray for the USA National Team. pic.twitter.com\/WyAdUoOQko<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ballers In God (@BallersinGod) July 2, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The rest of the prayer is inaudible before McKenzie ends it by giving God credit for the win.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou deserve all the honor and praise right now. Amen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<h3>How the U.S. team\u2019s prayer tradition started<\/h3>\n<p>The post-match prayer has become a team tradition with the U.S. celebrating all four of its 2026 World Cup matches with a prayer, including its group stage loss to Turkey.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The USMNT huddle following the 3-2 loss to T\u00fcrkiye.<\/p>\n<p>Next up: Round of 32 at the 2026 World Cup \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 pic.twitter.com\/rTmPclbZHf<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3160\">What Philadelphia might have looked like in 1776<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 USMNT Only (@usmntonly) June 26, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The prayer after the opening match was originally only going to include just a few of the players, McKenzie told The Athletic, but the rest of the team joined in for what McKenzie described as \u201ca powerful moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter the first game, it just happened,\u201d McKenzie said. \u201cAnd then the second game, guys are like, \u2018Hey, let\u2019s go, let\u2019s go.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<blockquote>\n<p>This isn\u2019t the U.S. soccer team huddled for a motivational pep talk. <\/p>\n<p>Look closer. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s defender Mark McKenzie leading the team in impassioned prayer. <\/p>\n<p>A massive spiritual shift is happening in America right now\ud83d\ude4f pic.twitter.com\/4IbWn7UfzW<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Paul Anleitner (@PaulAnleitner) June 20, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>While several members of the team are open about their Christian faith, McKenzie said there\u2019s a diversity of beliefs and backgrounds among the team\u2019s players and staff, but that doesn\u2019t stop them from participating in the prayer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s power in prayer,\u201d McKenzie said. \u201cIt unites people in ways that you may have never even thought could. \u2026 And I think there\u2019s beauty in that.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Though he may physically be at the center of the prayer, McKenzie emphasized to The Athletic that the moment is not about him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t necessarily want the attention for it,\u201d McKenzie said. \u201cI may be in the center of it, but at the end of the day, the Lord is at the center of it all. He\u2019s the main purpose, He\u2019s the main character, He is the protagonist. And I\u2019m just trying to bring people into His light in some way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. plays Belgium in the Round of 16 on Monday at 6 p.m. MT with a spot in the quarterfinals on the line.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3158\">Red card controversy: What can be done about Balogun\u2019s DQ?<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>Related<\/div>\n<div>Faith powers these U.S. stars at the World Cup<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mark McKenzie U.S. 2026 FIFA World Cup. Is the U.S. praying after its World Cup games? Why is the U.S. team praying at the World Cup? Religion at the World Cup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3163,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faith"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The U.S. World Cup team celebrates its big win Wednesday with a team prayer - American Movers Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3164\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The U.S. World Cup team celebrates its big win Wednesday with a team prayer - American Movers Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mark McKenzie U.S. 2026 FIFA World Cup. 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