Zach Duke
Zach Duke, known as "World Cup Dad," is a former Liberty University football player and full-time missionary who transitioned to professional soccer at age 34 despite never having played the sport. He currently plays for the Empire Strykers in the Major Arena Soccer League and has been selected by Federação Socca Brasil to represent Brazil's 6v6 national team at the 2026 Copa America and World Cup. He is best known for documenting his unlikely journey from a recreational league to professional soccer on social media, where he has gained over 135,000 followers on Instagram under the handle @worldcupdad.
“I bet his videos get more views than eight of the 11 guys on the starting team on the actual World Cup team... achieved brand deals, Adidas Cup invitations”
Source→AI-extracted from podcast / newsletter / paper summaries. May contain errors.