By Edgardo Avelar
Pope Leo XIV got involved this Saturday in the World Cup issue after receiving the shirt Mexico on the flight that took him from Rome to Madrid, where he will make a seven-day pastoral visit in Spain, taking advantage of the meeting with the journalists who accompanied the holy pontiff.
Just at that moment inside the aircraft, the leader of the Catholic church shared a message related to the next international soccer tournament and the role that sport plays as a tool of unity between people.
The image of Pope Leo XIV holding the jersey of the Mexican National Team It quickly attracted the attention of fans and the media, especially since it occurred a few days before the debut of the tricolor representative against South Africa.
He was also given the Tricolor shirt by the Mexican reporter Valentina Alazraki, correspondent for Televisa and the N+ network, giving him the official jersey that the national team Mexico will use against South Africa on June 11 at the Mexico City stadium.
At the event of the shirt delivery, Leo XIV expressed his desire that sports competition contribute to strengthening coexistence between nations and promote positive values on and off the fields.
“I wish everyone a competition that helps foster unity in the world; that we see that sport can unite everyone, with discipline, with the game, but above all with seriousness and sacrifice,” the pontiff said while meeting with media representatives who were traveling on the same aircraft heading to the Spanish capital.
Just a few days before the start of the World Cup, Pope Leo XIV received a shirt from the Mexico National Team.
He commented on how excited he is about the next few days in relation to sport, and hopes that football unites everyone around the importance of fair play. He even stated that? pic.twitter.com/0OiJqhbQju
— N+ UNIVISION (@nmasunivision) June 6, 2026
Regarding the team that the Holy Father will support, he left it up in the air and explained that it will be an interesting competition and where he will seek to follow some of the competition matches, where he recalled that neither Peru nor Italy could be in this world event.
Of course, the Holy Pontiff showed his liking for Proper Madrid in the football issue when he was questioned between the merengue team and Barcelona, responding that: “That answer is easy, the Pope belongs to all the teams, but I like Proper Madrid,” he concluded..
Continue reading:
– Chicharito Hernández put on the “green” and gets on the Tricolor support boat
– Ronaldinho praised Santiago Gimenez and the Mexican team
– The World Cup could keep Edson Álvarez away from the second division
