English World Cup Star Bukayo Saka Talks Faith, Bible Reading While In Qatar

An English soccer player has gotten some attention — positive attention — for being frank about his faith and reading the Bible while over in Qatar for the World Cup.

Bukayo Saka plays for Arsenal in the English Premier League and he has been a key player for England during the World Cup. He hit twine twice in the team's group stage-opening 6-2 beat down of Iran.

He scored again in the team's last match against Senegal.

Ahead of England's quarterfinal match with Rance — the reigning champions — Saka discussed how his faith has helped him during his first World Cup.

"You said that you read the Bible every night," a reporter said. "I just wondered if you were doing that out here, and if you had a particular passage that was sort of inspiring you or helping you at the moment."

"Yeah, I’ve been continuing to do that out here with my Bible every night. For me, it’s really important to, obviously, have the presence of God in me all the time," the 21-year-old said.

"It gives me more confidence that God’s plan is perfect, so I can go on the pitch and know that God has my back. The main thing for me is just keeping the faith, having faith in God, so I don’t need to be nervous or worried about any outcomes. Obviously, it’s my first World Cup. I could start worrying about different things and different outcomes.

"Instead, I just choose to put my faith in God."

Soccer fans seemed pleased to hear a player talk so openly about their faith.

England and France kick off at 2 pm eastern this Saturday, with a trip to the semi-finals on the line.

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