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As the ongoing FIFA World Cup is showing, says CU 91���Ҹ� sports scholar Jared Bahir Browsh, nationalism and longtime loyalties set soccer fans apart

Every four years, the world comes together for one sport: soccer—“football” to the rest of the world—as teams compete for national glory in the FIFA World Cup. Fans of powerhouse national teams like Argentina, Brazil and Spain have long shown immense passion for their teams and the sport.��

"Recently, though, the U.S. men’s national team has started to gain some traction, especially after its exciting victories over Paraguay and Australia in this year's FIFA World Cup, which is scheduled through July 19.��

Even as the U.S. men’s national team gains popularity among fans, though, there still seems to be a distinct separation between the fans of this country and the fanatics of others. Jarad Bahir Browsh, director of�� the Critical Sports Studies program in the 91���Ҹ� 91���Ҹ� Department of Ethnic Studies, explains that while U.S. soccer fandom may lack the passion and devotion seen in many other parts of the world, there are signs it’s catching up.

Jared Bahir Browsh is the��Critical Sports Studies��program director in the CU 91���Ҹ���Department of Ethnic Studies.

Just tape and some rubber bands

Browsh points to the United Kingdom as an example of this national difference: “So many small towns (in the U.K.) have soccer teams, and so you have this kind of passionate connection (to the local team). Wrexham is a perfect example.”��

Wrexham Association Football Club is a Welsh club soccer team founded in 1864 that started out just below the professional divisions of the English Football League (EFL). In 2020, actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took over the team, beginning a success streak that saw the Wrexham team move into the EFL, just below the top tier, the Premier League.��

The number of leagues and teams in U.K. divisions makes moving up incredibly challenging for smaller teams, so when it happens, it brings a great sense of community to each fan base.�� Wrexham is a post-industrial Welsh town that had little pop culture notoriety until Reynolds and McElhenney took over. Since the new ownership and the club’s fairy tale success, it’s meant a great deal to the community and is a prominent unifying factor in the small town of Wrexham.

Smaller-town clubs also highlight the accessibility of soccer—not just watching it as a fan, but playing it, Browsh notes.��

“It just takes a ball, but even then people are creating balls out of tape and rubber bands. So, people figure out a way to play the sport,” he says. “Our comparable sport (in the United States) is basketball, and basketball is the second most popular sport globally, but it doesn’t have that kind of system (of global leagues and divisions that soccer does).”��

One U.S. sports community that comes close to the fervor of global soccer fandom is NCAA Southeastern Conference football. Fans of college teams like Alabama, Auburn, Georgia and Kentucky are known nationwide for their passion for their teams. But, Browsh adds, football has a short season while “soccer is year-long when you factor in these cup tournaments and the international club tournaments. Soccer is constant in many places.”��

Catching up

U.S. soccer is gradually moving toward the year-round schedule seen in a lot of the world, Browsh says. For example, North American Major League Soccer and the NCAA are adapting their schedules to align with European schedules.��

"We're trying to tap into that fandom, which is over a century in the making,” Browsh says. Even the United States’ oldest sports—specifically baseball—don’t “have that same community connection as some of the smaller teams in Europe and other countries have.”��

And when it comes to the World Cup, Browsh says, “You get the combination of fandom along with the national connection that leads to this fanaticism we see at all the celebrations.” In some ways, it just means more for these nations than it does for the United States because of this immense build up and passion for the sport, he explains. Also, the World Cup only happens every four years, which means there’s just that much more on the line.��

Plus, many Americans whose families emigrated from other countries don’t tend to root for the United States, either, Browsh says. “I have friends who are Italian, Irish or Scottish, and so they root for those national teams partly because the U.S. has not been as good on the men’s side in (soccer), and some of that is because of the cultural connections and it’s passed down from other family members,” he says.��

Soccer and politics

Despite the United States trailing the rest of the world in soccer participation and fandom, hosting the World Cup is still significant for the nation, Browsh says.��

A fan watches the June 23 Uzbekistan v. Colombia match at the 2026 FIFA Fan Fest in Mexico City. (Photo: ProtoplasmaKid/Wikimedia Commons)

“It means a lot right now. The tough thing is it’s hard to ignore that the political climate is impacting it,” he says. He cites a lot of negative news about certain players or referees in the lead up to the World Cup—including a Somalian referee who was forced to return to Somalia after being denied entry to the United States—which made international headlines.

Browsh also mentions that the Iranian national team had to immediately return to Mexico, where members were based, after playing in the United States. “It was even a question if Iran was going to show up,” he says.

Geopolitical realities like these can make it hard for fans of these teams to experience the joy that soccer brings them. And beyond the politics, Browsh cites another wedge that has hindered the U.S. World Cup hospitality: FIFA-set ticket prices.��

In particular, Browsh cites FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s seemingly dismissive comments about the visa issues, with Infantino “saying, ‘Chill out’ and ‘relax.’ There’s a growing divide between the leadership of FIFA and the fans, and we’re coming head to head with it this World Cup.”��

Browsh says the 2030 World Cup, which will be hosted in Spain, Portugal and Morocco with a special game in Uruguay—in what will be the 100th anniversary of the first World Cup—may be a litmus test. “It will be interesting to see if they can take care of (ticket pricing and alientation with fans),” he explains.

And while FIFA decided ticket pricing, the U.S. ticket market—dominated as it is by Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster, which a Manhattan jury declared a monopoly earlier this year along with the resale market—aren’t helping, Browsh says.

Do up-and-comers have a chance?

Despite the issues, though, the 2026 World Cup has still delivered many of the things fans hope for, including underdog stories. Cabo Verde’s June 15 draw against Spain—an international soccer powerhouse and a favorite to win the World Cup—as well as Ghana’s recent tie against England, demonstrate how teams from the African Federation are taking on heavily funded teams from Europe and Latin America.

“I think we underestimated the African Federation,” Browsh says, “and they have grown leaps and bounds. It keeps their players coming back to the national team after getting high-level training from European clubs.”��

Part of African Federation teams’ ascendancy, Browsh adds, may be due in part to FIFA increasing the number of teams in World Cup competition from 32 to 48.

“Some of these bigger teams were not quite prepared for how good these up-and-coming federations are,” he says. “It’s interesting, too, because in a way the United States is actually an up-and-coming federation on the men’s side.”

Finally, a U.S. soccer star

As something of an up-and-coming soccer federation, the U.S. men’s team is working to catch up with its international colleagues in one area that global teams have long excelled: producing stars. Christian Pulisic, a multi-position player, is being broadly credited with bringing a certain stardom to the U.S. men’s team and being a player that even non-fans know by name.��

Browsh does, however, advise caution in the process of star-making: “I think we should also be promoting other players. Nothing against Pulisic, but it’s always a danger, especially with some of his injury history, to be like, ‘This is the player you should focus on,’” he says, adding that it makes Pulisic a target.��

Maybe because the United States is one of three World Cup host nations this year, U.S. soccer fandom does seem stronger this year, Browsh says. “We’re actually at least going to be competitive this year; we’re in a winnable group.”��

The U.S. team’s winning potential is a departure from 2018, when the team didn’t even qualify for the World Cup, to 2022, when its run for the cup ended in a tie against England. But as for whether the United States will ever be a nation of soccer fanatics on the level of European, Latin American or African fans, Browsh says, time and this World Cup will tell.

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