Cannot believe the France vs Spain semifinal is 3pm on a Tuesday. A weekday afternoon. North America is hosting this World Cup. Put the final at 3pm Saturday... fine... it's the weekend. But scheduling a semi at 3pm on a workday to cater to Europe while North Americans get shafted is a joke.
And before anyone says a lot of the tournament games have been in the afternoon, that is not the point. This is a HUGE semifinal. When you host, the marquee games go in your prime time. That is how the Olympics work, that is how past World Cups have worked. The host market gets the showcase window. North America is hosting and got skipped for a weekday matinee. What is even the point of hosting?
Can I say something about the state of US soccer and why it doesn't live up?
Think people are overcomplicating it.
The rest of the world only has soccer, our kids grow up wanting to be football, basketball, hockey and baseball players.
Simple as that imo
@kylesheldon USMNT & USWNT: home country
Philadelphia Union: My local MLS club
Manchester United: the premier league team I fell in love with when I first started watching/playing
Brazil/Barcelona: loved watching because of Neymar (favorite player)
I feel like this needs to be said:
It is perfectly acceptable to like, support, and watch multiple soccer teams.
Fandom is not mutually exclusive.
It is, in fact, possible for one person to like and support:
• Their local MLS team
• A Premier League team
• A team from their family's country of origin
• The team of their favorite superstar player
• Two different national teams
• An NWSL or WSL team
And guess what?
You can like 'em all at the exact same time.
I know this might seem odd to footy fans around the globe, but that's soccer in America.
Is is the most fragmented, nuanced, confusing, dynamic, wonderful, ever-changing set of sports fans in the world.
It's one of the primary reasons I started @NameAndNumber - because soccer in America is unquestionably the most difficult sport to navigate of ANY of the sports.
And I love it.
Let's try something:
If you've gotten this far, and you're a soccer fan who lives in America, I want you to drop your favorite teams (and players if you like) in the replies - with one sentence as to why you like each of them.
I guarantee the replies will surprise a lot of people.
I'll start...
What’s up with Americans wanting to support a team from England instead of your local team? The Premier League is great, watch it, but pick your own local MLS team, go to the stadium and have a good time. Soccer isn’t going to grow here if you just watch foreign leagues
There is no way to spin it:
The US in the World Cup in primetime did better TV numbers than any other sporting event outside of the biggest NFL games.
Soccer is much more popular in this country than many people think.
I propose that the quickest solution to fix US Soccer is to take all the newly built Pickleball Courts and repurpose them into streetsoccer futsal courts. It will make us a true soccer nation and we will win the World Cup once this happens.
My debut World Cup… it hurts to wait 4 years to compete at the highest level our sport has to offer. I want to say sorry to our fans it was not good enough when it mattered most and we let you down
Soccer in America will only become bigger the belief, the talent, and the passion is continually growing and I know the best days are in front of us, the future belongs to those who never stop believing, this moment will fuel us. We will be back
Why not us?
For the nation. For the flag.
🇺🇸🦅
B
This will probably come up a lot over the next few weeks.
If someone asks what club they should support because they've fallen in love with soccer during the World Cup, my advice is simple:
Pick two teams.
1) Support a local club.
Whether it’s MLS, USL, MLS NEXT Pro, NISA, UPSL, etc. Pick one you can actually go watch. Buy a hat, buy a kit, and support them. We need to grow the game domestically.
2) Pick a club for fun.
You can be a powerhouse bandwagoner and support one of the giants (Madrid, Barca, PSG, Bayern, etc.), or pick a smaller club because you love the culture, history, or even just like their kit.
You can also just follow USMNT players abroad.
There isn’t a wrong answer.....just enjoy it.
The contention is always "one or the other." The point is that it doesn't have to be "either-or." Do both.
USA vs. Belgium had 30 MILLION viewers last night 😱
That's more than:
- 2025 & 2026 NBA Finals
- World Series
- CBB Natty
- The Masters
- The Stanley Cup Final
- WNBA Finals
Soccer is GROWING in the USA 🍿
(via @burackbobby_)