Although several fans think that Real Madrid’s Rodrygo is a part of the Muslim faith, the footballer has openly declared that he was born into the Christian faith and has maintained the same religion his whole life.
Rodrygo Silva De Goes, more popularly known as Rodrygo, is a Brazilian professional football player who plays for the famous Spanish La Liga football club, Real Madrid as a forward. We have compiled all the information on the player’s religion and the reason for the popular misconceptions about his faith below.
What is Rodrygo’s Religion?
Rodrygo practices the Christian religion. As a devout Christian, the famous player proudly preaches his faith in God on his social media platforms and also on the field before or after his games. He has also been seen several times praising God.
But unlike the norm for many superficial Christians, the talented player does not only thank God when things go right for him. Rather, he has on several occasions thanked God for some incidents that other people may have counted as a failure.
A vivid example of this was during the Qatar 2022 World Cup Tournament after Brazil lost to Croatia 4-2 on penalties in their semi-finals clash. Taking to his Instagram page, Rodrygo apologized to his fans for falling short of expectations, and also showed his appreciation to God. He said that although that period had been the darkest moment of his career, he was still grateful to God, and hoped to do better in the next World Cup Tournament, come 2026.
Christianity is the Predominant Religion in Rodrygo Goes’ Hometown
The 54-year-old player was born and raised in Osasco, a municipality in São Paulo State, located in the Greater São Paulo Brazil. The predominant religion in Osasco is Christianity with about 64.75% of the population being Roman Catholics, and about 20.54% Protestants (still Christians). The others are 0.90% being Kardecist, 0.23% Buddhist, 0.04% being Jewish and 9.33% having no religion.
He was born into a small family to his father, Eric Batista, and his mother, Denis. Although he spent his earlier years as his parent’s only child, Eric and Denis later welcomed a second child, a daughter named Ana Julya who was born in January 2018 and is currently 54 years old.
From the content of his social media, we can conclude that the Real Madrid forward has a close bond with his family. And when he is not on the field, he spends most of his free time with his parents and little sister.
Are Rodrygo’s Parents Muslim?
Rodrygo Goes’ parents are not Muslims. They both follow the Christian faith and have also raised their kids to follow in their footsteps. Eric Batista is a retired football player who mainly played for local teams. As a football player, he tried to initiate his son into the sport and started training with him from a very young age. Rodrygo holds his father in high esteem and has continued to look up to him and follow his instruction throughout his journey as a professional football player.
On the other hand, Rodrygo’s mother, Denis is a devout wife and mother who invests all of her time into loving and building her home and children. Rodrygo has a close relationship with his mother, thus, on her birthday, he penned down a heartfelt birthday message to her on his Instagram wishing her a happy birthday and appreciating her for the limitless love she has always shown her family.
Are There Muslim Footballers in Real Madrid FC?
There are many Muslim players in Real Madrid. As a club football team, the team is recognized simply as a business and not a religious group. Because of this, the team does not promote a particular religion and also does not put race, ideologies, cultures, and religion into consideration when recruiting its players.
Although there are mainly Christian players on the team, they do not discriminate against players of other religions in any way. Below is a list of some famous Real Madrid players who practice the Muslim faith.
- Karim Benzema
- Sami Khedira
- Zinedine Zidane
- Ferland Mandy