Vatican prays Pope stays up for World Cup final

WORLD CUP POPES

Vatican spokesman the Reverend Federico Lombardi said the final is on a bit late for Argentina’s Francis and acknowledged with a chuckle that German-born Benedict was not known as a sports fan. But he did not rule anything out, saying: “We’ll see in the coming days.”

Pope Francis has already given his word that there will be no papal intervention in Argentina’s fortunes, promising he would not pray for any team. Mr Lombardi said: “Both would want the better team to win, without taking sides.”