Heating Up? Let’s Get BBQ Ready for the World Cup! ⚽☀️

It’s getting hot! Time to embrace the alfresco lifestyle — BBQs, salads, sunshine and yes… the World Cup!

Whether it’s in your garden, your street, your local green space or at church, summer creates amazing opportunities to gather people together. Everyone brings something for the grill, there are mountains of salad combinations, the tunes are playing, and before long there’s chat, laughter, games and ice cream all round.

So why not make it World Cup themed this summer?

Invite people to come wearing any football shirt they like — whether they support a team passionately or just enjoy getting involved. It’s all about creating a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere where community and conversation can flourish.

Get Into Teams

Split everyone into teams and encourage them to come up with creative team names. Bonus points for the funniest or most ridiculous!

Then it’s game time…

1. Dribbling Challenge ⚽

Set up a simple cone course and have each team member dribble a football through it. The fastest team wins!

2. Football Kit Design 🎨

Print out blank football kit outlines and provide plenty of pens, pencils and decorations. Award points for:

• Creativity
• Best match with the team name
• Craziest design

3. Penalty Shootout 🥅

Classic, simple and always fun. Everyone starts in — if you miss, you’re out! (Or choose representatives from each team if you want to save time.) Don’t forget the cheering section!

4. World Cup Mocktail Challenge 🍹

Set up a mocktail station with ingredients like:

• Mint
• Lemon and lime slices
• Strawberries
• Lemonade
• Ice cubes
• Cocktail umbrellas
• Coloured syrups
• Mini cucumbers

Award points for:

• Best tasting
• Best presentation
• Best mocktail name

5. Recycled World Cup Trophy 🏆

Gather together recycling materials and challenge teams to build their own World Cup trophy creation. You’ll need plenty of tape!

Judge on:

• Creativity
• Teamwork
• Functionality

The winning trophy can then be presented to the overall champions later.

6. Quiz Time 🎤

Mix football trivia with broader fun rounds depending on your audience:

• Famous songs acted out
• TV or Netflix series
• Book titles
• General knowledge

7. Football-Themed Bake Off 🧁

Bake cupcakes in advance and let teams decorate them with football-themed icing and toppings. These also make excellent desserts later in the day!

We’ve also heard of churches running football-themed family services alongside community BBQs — why not combine the two?

Summer gives us such a natural opportunity to gather people, build relationships and create space for meaningful conversations.

This World Cup season, there are so many opportunities to do mission in the sunshine. ☀️⚽

And don’t forget to order your copies Goal of Life Football Gospel — ready for your BBQ or summer outreach event — a brilliant way to help guests continue exploring faith long after the final whistle.

Make sure everyone leaves with their copy to take home!

Available now from just 90p per copy* — perfect for sharing during the 2026 World Cup.

👉 Order now from our shop