Canada’s Men’s National Soccer Team heads into the FIFA World Cup on home ground without a designated chaplain. 

The biggest sporting event on the planet kicks off June 11 in Canada, the United States and Mexico, featuring thousands of players, coaches and staff from across 48 national teams. The absence of structured spiritual support for most national teams has one longtime soccer chaplain calling the current landscape “dire.” 

Rev. Brad Kenney, founder and executive director of the organization Soccer Chaplains United and volunteer lead chaplain for MLS’s Colorado Rapids, says the United States, as one of the three host countries, stands nearly alone among major nations in providing consistent volunteer chaplaincy to its senior and youth national teams. For many other countries, including Canada, dedicated pastoral care at the international level remains stagnant at best, even as club-level chaplaincy has taken root in leagues like Major League Soccer and the USL Championship. 

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“ It’s the U.S Men's and Women’s National Team that has the most developed chaplain teams of any of the developed nations that are in the World Cup, totalling about 10 total across their system this year. In the last five to six years, there have been chaplains who have served on those teams, where that isn't a known commodity in countries like Canada, England and Scotland. Even though soccer and football chaplaincy happens there, it isn't a national team presence,” Kenney told The Catholic Register. 

To Kenney, the problem is not just plaguing Team Canada, taking part in its third World Cup tournament, but rather a much deeper, logistical problem national teams are facing across the globe. While other nations may offer occasional or informal support, as seen in the case of chaplain Mike Richards with  USL Championship squad El Paso Locomotive FC  extending help to Jamaica’s national team, Kenney says cases are often inconsistent and rare. 

“Club soccer has ownership as a business. It's seen differently than a national team that has players gather for a short, intense period of time, and then they scatter again back to their club teams. That takes a lot of energy, resources and wise timing to effectively work with those teams through international matches and competitions, and so it’s been one of the major barriers towards developing national team chaplaincy,” he said. 

It’s a disappointing reality for Kenney and fellow soccer chaplains, who have seen firsthand the value and impact effective chaplaincy has. Highlighting their important roles of providing presence, accompaniment and holistic care, Kenney recalls fondly the 2010 MLS Cup Final, which saw his Colorado Rapids defeat FC Dallas in Toronto. He experienced the feeling of a chaplain going through the ultimate high of a momentous sporting occasion, while seeing a chaplain with FC Dallas in action consoling athletes who came up short in reaching the ultimate goal.

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“Even today, I’m reminded of Psalm 23 and ‘walking through the valley of the shadow.’ That shadow in soccer is many different things, injuries sustained, contracts not renewed, the lifestyle of moving from place to place, not achieving or succeeding at certain levels, it could even be death,” he said. 

“Chaplains mirror the activity and action of God in walking alongside these athletes as a reflection of Christ in those moments, whether they are athletes, coaches, staff members or family.” 

The World Cup marks something of a global celebration of sport, highlighting soccer’s unique multicultural opportunities as it brings together players from diverse backgrounds, languages, cultures and faiths. Therein lies the opportunity for chaplains to play a role in connecting athletes across differences during one of the world’s most-watched events. 

“Think of the billions of viewers that watch the global game. Chaplaincy also gives us a beautiful opportunity as we watch nations come together to play. There are so many parallels that we can find within Scripture that we can connect people into. We see all tribes, nations and tongues coming into this one place in need of support,” Kenney said. 

Soccer Chaplains United, which consists of 30 chaplains across North America in all levels from MLS to academies, youth and high school clubs, sees a few ways around the current bleak area of soccer chaplains on the national stage. While an ideal scenario would prioritize higher professional standards for chaplains through expanded training and greater openness from federations like FIFA toward recognizing spiritual care as essential, barriers remain.  

 “The  phrase that remains is that we don't need religion in the locker room, but what that misses is that we are spiritual beings. To neglect or put aside spiritual care is not holistically caring for our (athletes) — it’s shortsighted, and it misses the mark,” Kenney said. 

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Kenney is hopeful the 2026 World Cup can be a catalyst for the growth of chaplaincy on the national stage of world football. That is, if it’s not too late. 

“We have this momentous opportunity, likely the biggest tournament of our lives, coming back here to North America, and I think we are going to walk away going, ‘Did we miss an opportunity?’ and for me, ‘Did I miss an opportunity to grow chaplaincy  within the game with these nations?’ ” Kenney said.