'Soccer-mad' Pope Francis is thrilled to meet the Bayern Munich team

'Soccer-mad' Pope Francis is thrilled to meet the Bayern Munich team

During a private meeting with members of the FC Bayern Munich sports club on Wednesday, Pope Francis told the soccer players that they "played a wonderful game."

Bayern Munich beat Roma 7-1 in Italy on Tuesday night. The team gave Pope Francis a signed soccer ball and jersey — complete with "Francis" across the back. For Pope Francis, a noted "soccer-mad" sports fan (at least according to The Associated Press), the moment was quite a special one, as seen in his expression in the below photos.

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Meghan DeMaria

Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.