"Prevost is for Real Madrid." That's the Pope, separating his personal football loyalties from his official neutrality with a deadpan delivery that any press officer would envy.
Pope Leo XIV — born Robert Prevost in a south Chicago suburb, first American to lead the Catholic Church — made his World Cup allegiances clear aboard a flight from Rome to Madrid on Saturday. The US team has his support when the 48-team tournament kicks off this week. "I would certainly support the US," he said. "I don't know how many games I'll be able to see but I wish them all the best."
Not exactly a ringing endorsement of their Group D chances, but the Vatican schedule is what it is.
Peru's exit opened the door
This wasn't a foregone conclusion. Leo spent decades in Peru as a missionary and bishop before ascending to the papacy, and he said as recently as last year that he'd back Peru over the US in any head-to-head. Peru's failure to qualify for this tournament resolved that particular theological conflict neatly. The US gets the blessing by default.
Group D — Paraguay, Australia, Turkey — is winnable, and the co-host advantage gives the US genuine tournament momentum going in. A papal endorsement won't move the odds, but it's a story the US Soccer Federation's marketing team will absolutely be running with.
The Real Madrid admission
The football conversation didn't stop at the World Cup. During his apostolic visit to Spain and the Canary Islands, a journalist asked the obvious question: Madrid or Barcelona?
Leo paused. Then: "The pope is for all teams. Prevost is for Real Madrid."
Clean. Deliberate. The man knows how to work a room — or a pressurised aircraft cabin. Real Madrid, for their part, now have something no rival club can claim. Barcelona will have to settle for mortal endorsements.
