From a commemorative jersey to plans for a stadium bearing his name, Argentina’s football world is paying heartfelt tribute to its ultimate “captain” – Pope Francis – remembered not just as a spiritual leader, but as a team player in every sense.
The Argentine pontiff, who died Monday at age 88, was a lifelong fan of the beautiful game.
In his homeland, tributes have flowed with football metaphors, honoring the first pope from Latin America and the Southern Hemisphere.
“Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Association said in a moving statement, calling him a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and showed the world “what it means to have an Argentine captain when courage is needed.”
The AFA suspended all matches on Monday in mourning, and a minute’s silence will be observed before every fixture throughout the week.
San Lorenzo club in Buenos Aires, of which Jorge Bergoglio was a lifelong fan, announced that its chapel would remain open until 9 p.m. each night this week to allow fans to say their goodbyes at a makeshift altar adorned with his portrait.
The club also plans a memorial Mass on Wednesday, and players will wear a special Francis commemorative jersey on Saturday when they host Rosario Central.
A photo of the pope’s San Lorenzo membership card from 2008 went viral on social media, with many noting the strange coincidence between his time of death in Argentina – 2:35 – his age, 88, and his membership number: 88235.
‘Pope Francis’ stadium
Argentine football great Lionel Messi on Monday led his country’s tributes to the pontiff, thanking him for “making the world a better place.”
San Lorenzo issued an emotional statement and video about the illustrious “Crow,” as fans of the club – founded by a priest – are known, saying he was “always one of us.”
The steps of Buenos Aires Cathedral, where Francis served as archbishop from 1998 to 2013, and those of a church in his home neighborhood of Flores, where a memorial Mass was held Monday, were dotted with football jerseys, scarves and bunting.
San Lorenzo President Marcelo Moretti confirmed Tuesday that the club’s planned 55,000-seat stadium will be named after the late leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
Moretti said he visited the pope at the Vatican in 2024 to ask him to lend his name to the venue.
“He accepted and was very moved,” Moretti said.