You probably haven’t heard Mark McKenzie’s name much during broadcasts of the U.S. Men’s National Team’s (USMNT) first two World Cup games, as the 27-year-old backup defender hasn’t seen any playing time yet.
But make no mistake, he has a clear role for a team looking to sweep group stage play for the first time in history. The Americans would accomplish the feat with a win over Turkiye on Thursday.
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Anyone who continued watching following the USMNT’s 2-0 win over Australia on Friday witnessed a powerful public display of faith. Just as it did after their 4-1 win against Paraguay on June 12, the entire team gathered in a circle at midfield, arms locked together. In the middle was McKenzie. He knelt, lifted his hands and prayed.
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Team USA’s players and staff come from various walks of life with different religious backgrounds. But McKenzie and this team have united around his post-match routine.
“Although it starts out as a moment of prayer, it invites people into what this team is about,” McKenzie told The Athletic this week. “It’s about love, it’s about togetherness, it’s about welcoming people. It doesn’t matter what your background is, we are family.”
You wouldn’t guess it by his leadership at the World Cup, but McKenzie wasn’t always great at sharing his faith. He credits his father, a Jamaican immigrant who came to the U.S. with almost nothing, with instilling in him an understanding that he has a higher purpose than soccer.
“I had been kind of preparing myself for any way, shape or form I could contribute, any way that I could step into a bigger role,” McKenzie told The Athletic. “I’ve taken steps to try to be somebody who is glue for those around me, somebody who people can lean on, confide in and trust, and look to.”
McKenzie is joined on the team by a core group of players who also profess faith in Christ, including star Christian Pulisic, Chris Richards, Matt Freese and others. That core group have participated in Bible studies together, and eventually, began gathering in a circle on the field after games. Although his prayers are now known across the country, McKenzie wants the spotlight fixed squarely on his Father in Heaven.
“I may be in the center of [the circle], but at the end of the day, the Lord is at the center of it all,” he said. “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.”
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McKenzie fell in love with basketball growing up in Delaware, but it became clear that his future was in soccer when he joined the Philadelphia Union youth academy. His college career took him to Wake Forest, yet despite his talent, he didn’t see the field much and left after a year to sign with the Union.
After three years in Philly, he took his game overseas, signing with Genk in Belgium and playing five seasons there. His last two seasons have been with Toulouse in France’s top league. He isn’t worried about wherever his career takes him next; He’s in God’s hands, and God is good to him.
“You have moments where you go through periods that you’re not playing well or injured or people are saying you’re such a bad player or whatever it may be,” he said on the Sports Spectrum Podcast earlier this month. “And it’s like, ‘Oh Lord, Lord,’ right? But getting to that point where you’re now in that steady state of ‘I’m not too high, I’m not too low, but I’m relying on the Lord to kind of get me through those seasons.’
“When I am doing well, it’s not because of me, it’s because the Lord is seeing me through this. And when I am in a valley, it’s not because I’m such a bad player or person, but it’s because the Lord is trying to get something out of me in this season.”
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McKenzie has shared his testimony of faith in a few videos released earlier this month, in the midst of the excitement of the World Cup.
“There is nowhere we can go where our Good Shepherd won’t follow us,” he said in a video by Alpha Youth, “as long as we keep our hearts open to Him.”
In a video from Victory Beyond The Cup, McKenzie added that “The love He has for me is what spurs me on each and every day. I wouldn’t be here without Him. His forgiveness, His mercy — which I don’t deserve — His grace — which I don’t deserve. He has put me here for a reason, and I will stand on that till the day I die.
“I will continue to spread His love, to spread His Gospel, to spread His truth. When He calls me up, I pray He looks at me and says, ‘well done, good and faithful servant.'”
The United States and Turkiye game will kick off from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, at 10 p.m. ET.
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