Soccer in the United States: Mid-Unit Post

Photo by Dinur

My impending autoethnography is going to focus on the sport of soccer, primarily the sport from the viewpoint in the United States. To be even more specific, I am going to delve into the reasons as to why the soccer culture is not as popular in the states, why the United States men’s national soccer team has failed to produce a FIFA World Cup championship, and the world of soccer as viewed differently by Americans. This obviously does not apply to all Americans, as some, like myself, are big fans of the beautiful game; however, there is definitely a large population in the U.S. that would oppose and bash the sport.
After researching several sources, both scholarly articles and simple sports blogs, the argument seems very 50/50. There are supporters for both sides of soccer: those who hate it and those who love it. In the journal Soccer and Society, an article titled “National Sports and Other Myths: The Failure of US Soccer” contains many possible reasons as to why soccer in America has generally been subpar in popularity. The most common reason, found in several sources, would simply be due to the fact that soccer is not viewed as an “American sport.” The American sports would be considered the top 3 sports in the states that almost anyone could guess: football, basketball, and baseball. These sports are especially implemented into the American way of life, as these 3 sports make an impact somehow in the lives of most people.
The U.S. men’s national team has had its fair share of underperforming. But in a country with over 300 million people in it, surely there would have to be 11 fantastic young soccer stars, right? After all, the U.S. women’s team seems to be doing great, and has been for quite some time. Unfortunately that is not the case for the men. The best the men have ever finished was third, but that was in 1930, the first year of the World Cup. Soccer is simply not the same in America as in the rest of the world, and I hope to explain why in my autoethnography.