Overview
- Pope Leo XIV told charity workers in Barcelona on Wednesday that life should be “played as a team” after a six-year-old asked whether he liked football.
- He warned that a talented player who never passes the ball keeps others out of the game and risks losing, using that image to explain why teamwork matters.
- The pope linked the message to his own sporting past, saying he prefers tennis, that he played football with seminarians in Chiclayo, Peru, and that he usually played in defense because he was not a strong goal scorer.
- During the visit he met Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez, received a personalized Madrid shirt, drew tens of thousands at the Bernabéu and prayed with FC Barcelona leaders at Montserrat, using those encounters to broaden his outreach.
- The remarks arrived on the eve of the 2026 World Cup opener, a global moment the pope cast as a pastoral chance to promote inclusion and community rather than to address the tournament’s operational disputes.