# Holy Smoke: how religion shapes football

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/best-of-the-spectator-45373/holy-smoke-how-religion-shapes-football
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/best-of-the-spectator-45373/holy-smoke-how-religion-shapes-football.md
Podcast: [Best of the Spectator](https://stenobird.com/podcast/best-of-the-spectator-45373)
Published: 2026-07-11T23:01:00+00:00
Episode link: https://shows.acast.com/best-of-the-spectator/episodes/holy-smoke-how-religion-shapes-football
Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68358fb5e1abc4be6b0308eb/e/6a5104c5a410914b58511735/media.mp3?tk=eyJ0ayI6ImRlZmF1bHQiLCJhZHMiOnRydWUsInNwb25zIjp0cnVlLCJzdGF0dXMiOiJwdWJsaWMifQ==&sig=XhrSYBWh-CcZj5i-c_nIB3Vvkpc8gfpDjcfogsQBY9A
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/best-of-the-spectator-45373/episodes/holy-smoke-how-religion-shapes-football
Duration seconds: 1004

## Resource

From idolising players to faithfully following a club, football is often described as the world’s secular religion. But religion has long been woven into the fabric of the game itself. From the sectarian roots of Glasgow’s Old Firm rivalry between Catholic Celtic and Protestant Rangers to Diego Maradona’s infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal against England in 1986, faith has repeatedly shaped football’s biggest moments. This year’s World Cup has offered plenty more examples. Players have prayed openly during matches; images of Lionel Messi as a saint have appeared at Argentina games; and Muslim footballers have performed the sujood on the pitch after victory. Meanwhile, following Brazil’s earlier-than-expected exit, some distraught supporters blamed the country’s rapid growth of Protestantism, lamenting: ‘If we pray like a gringo, we play like a gringo.’ So how has religion shaped the world’s most popular sport? And why is Christianity becoming increasingly visible in modern football? Produced by Patrick Gibbons & Oscar Edmondson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/best-of-the-spectator-45373/episodes/holy-smoke-how-religion-shapes-football/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/best-of-the-spectator-45373/holy-smoke-how-religion-shapes-football.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.