The U.S. advanced to the Round of 16 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup after beating Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 Wednesday.
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.
To celebrate the win, the entire U.S. team — staff and players — 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.
The moment was even featured in Fox’s broadcast of the match.
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 The Athletic.
“Heavenly 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,” McKenzie said in the video.
The rest of the prayer is inaudible before McKenzie ends it by giving God credit for the win.
“You deserve all the honor and praise right now. Amen,” he said.
How the U.S. team’s prayer tradition started
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.
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 “a powerful moment.”
“After the first game, it just happened,” McKenzie said. “And then the second game, guys are like, ‘Hey, let’s go, let’s go.’”
While several members of the team are open about their Christian faith, McKenzie said there’s a diversity of beliefs and backgrounds among the team’s players and staff, but that doesn’t stop them from participating in the prayer.
“There’s power in prayer,” McKenzie said. “It unites people in ways that you may have never even thought could. … And I think there’s beauty in that.”
Though he may physically be at the center of the prayer, McKenzie emphasized to The Athletic that the moment is not about him.
“I don’t necessarily want the attention for it,” McKenzie said. “I may be in the center of it, but at the end of the day, the Lord is at the center of it all. He’s the main purpose, He’s the main character, He is the protagonist. And I’m just trying to bring people into His light in some way.”
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.
