The World Cup is the greatest spectacle in sports. Every four years, countries from around the globe bring their unique style of play and passionate fan bases together for a month-long celebration unlike anything else.
Despite being the world’s most popular sport, it will never be that in America. This year, pundits barely even bothered asking the question: “Is soccer ready to take off in the United States?”
The answer is still no.
The U.S. women’s program is the most accomplished in the world, but the men’s team isn’t in the same league as the global powers and never has been. There are plenty of theories as to why, but I think two stand above the rest.
The pay-to-play system
Elite youth soccer costs families thousands of dollars each year, which means talented kids from lower-income communities often never enter elite development.
Countries with stronger academy systems identify talented players at a young age and train them for little to no cost. If some of your best athletes can’t afford to play, you’re limiting your talent pool.
Soccer isn’t deeply rooted in American culture
In many countries, soccer is everywhere.
We simply can’t match how deeply soccer is woven into the culture of countries like Brazil, Argentina, England, or Spain because, in this country, that level of fandom is for American football.
The best chance America has for soccer to truly take off is for an American men’s player to become one of the biggest stars in the world. If there was a dynamic American winning Premier League titles and then carrying the U.S. to a World Cup semifinal. That could have the same transformational effect on boys’ soccer that Caitlin Clark has had on girls’ basketball.
As a soccer casual, I of course do have some thoughts on how to improve the planet’s most popular sport.
1. Get rid of offside.
Fans want to celebrate goals, not wait two minutes to find out whether someone’s knee was an inch too far forward. If the concern is that attacking players would simply camp in front of the goal, create a three-second violation similar to basketball.
For a sport with so little scoring, having a goal erased after a two-minute VAR review because someone’s eyelash was offside is an incredible buzzkill.
Field hockey eliminated the offside rule, and the result was a faster, more free-flowing, higher-scoring game.
2. Stop making teams play a man down after a red card.
I understand ejecting the player. If someone commits a dangerous foul or earns a second yellow card, send them off.
But why should the rest of the team be punished too?
Imagine if, after Victor Wembanyama elbowed Naz Reid in the playoffs, the Spurs had to play four-on-five for the rest of the game.
Or if an NFL player was ejected for a dangerous hit and his team had to finish the game with only ten players on the field.
Punish the player. Suspend them. Fine them. Make them miss the next match if necessary.
But don’t punish the fans by turning what should be a competitive match into an hour-long survival exercise.
3. Let players come back in after subbing out
The rule that says once a player comes out, they’re done for the game, leads to coaches leaving their stars on the field even when they’re running on fumes, or to the most important moments of the match being played without some of the top players.
I get that you don’t want hockey-style line changes every two minutes. Put limits on it. Give each player one chance to come back in, or limit the number of substitutions a team can make.
But if a player rolls an ankle, needs to get taped up, or just needs five minutes to catch their breath, why should they be done for the day? Fans want the best players on the field, at their best, when the game is hanging in the balance.
4. Keep cracking down on flopping.
Soccer has made strides but there’s still a long way to go.
Some of these performances deserve Academy Award nominations more than free kicks.
Watching the theatrics is extra frustrating because they’ve crept into basketball, and flopping is now threatening the watchability of the NBA.
Fine the daylights out of players who flop. If they’re repeat offenders, suspend them for a match.
If you’d like to hear more of my soccer hot takes check back in next year when I tune in again for the women’s World Cup!