After Brazil was knocked out of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, many fans were quick to blame the team’s poor performance on the evangelical beliefs of some players. On social media, some complained that Brazil’s team was much better when its players were “behaving like Catholics” and that “evangelical Protestant sterilization has flattened their ball, ruined their samba and obliterated their swag.”
While such commentary can be described as semi-serious soccer banter, it speaks to the broader religious shifts taking place in Latin America. Protestants (often referred as evangélicos) in Latin America now comprise about 11 per cent of the population — a notable change in a region where a larger share of Christians traditionally self-identified as Roman Catholic.
