World Cup fans desperate for their team to take home the trophy often turn to expressions of faith and prayer. Mexican fans are no different, and in Mexico City they have the perfect icon to which they can voice their petitions.
Perched in front of the magnificent Altar of the Kings in the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral is Soccer Baby Jesus (aka El Niño Futbolero) clad in a Mexican national team jersey with a soccer ball sitting next to him.
(Estrella Josento / Cuartoscuro.com)
In the days leading up to the Mexico-Ecuador showdown Tuesday eveening, the jersey-clad Soccer Baby Jesus occupied a prominent place in the Cathedral.
(Estrella Josento / Cuartoscuro.com)“We ask the Christ Child for a victory for Mexico … and possibly that we can win the World Cup,” one fan told ESPN after visiting the shrine.
“We want Mexico to win and advance to the fifth game,” said another before Tuesday’s (fourth) game. “We’re all excited and looking forward to the next match, to seeing Mexico in the finals. A little help wouldn’t hurt.”
The massive 16th-century Cathedral sits in the heart of downtown Mexico City, adjacent to the FIFA Fan Fest erected in the Zócalo for the duration of the World Cup.
Thousands of fans attending the soccer festival have also entered the Cathedral to pray and pay homage to the baby Jesus.
It is common in Catholic countries across the world to dress a baby Jesus in different vestments depending on the liturgical season. In Mexico, that practice has come to include cloaking the infant to look like a pilgrim to grant protection to travellers, or to clothe him in a doctor’s outfit for good health.
Corral said the pilgrims are not just Mexico fans, noting that Colombian fans were “saying their prayers to ask for victory” the day before Colombia played Uzbekistan at Mexico City Stadium.
Supporters of the national teams of Argentina, Colombia, Spain, Mexico and other countries could be seen posing for photos in front of the figure, others simply praying for victory.
Cathedral officials say the baby Jesus will remain on display until the end of the tournament, and will be attired in El Tri gear regardless of Mexico’s performance.
With reports from ESPN, Reuters, Forbes México and Heraldo de México
