The World Cup as a site of reflexivity for Pentecostal Nigerian immigrants in Canada

Bibliographic Data

ID12675487
AuthorsNicholas William Howe Bukowski (0009-0003-2247-3124, University of Toronto, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume27
Issue4-5
Pages1-19
Publication date2026-03-19
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSoccer and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1466-0970 • E-ISSN: 1743-9590
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14660970.2026.2640512
OpenAlexW7139034875
LanguageEN
References cited27

The article addresses the question: how is attachment for religious subjects in a multicultural society negotiated through World Cup fandom? The question will be addressed through the competing national and global attachments for Nigerian immigrants to Vancouver, Canada, during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. As Canada qualified while Nigeria did not, the event provided the space for a meta-commentary on how to negotiate their dual status as tied to both Nigeria and Canada, through their decisions about who to support in the World Cup. The World Cup was a productive event for this form of emplacement as it is able to scale co-existing forms of individual, national, continental and global identity for this group of young Nigerian men in Vancouver. This article is prescient as it allows for a consideration of what the 2026 World Cup will mean for Canadian nationalism, which is premised upon multiculturalism as state policy.

Ethnic group · Ethnography · Identity (music · Immigration · Reflexivity · Refugee · Christian Theology and Mission · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity · Pentecostalism and Christianity Studies

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