When the 1994 World Cup came to town, Major League Soccer didn’t exist, and there were questions about whether soccer would even make it in this country. Fast forward to the United States men’s national team at the 2026 World Cup, and while there’s still room to grow, with stars like Lionel Messi and Son Heung-Min playing in Major League Soccer, the United Soccer League is gearing up for implementing promotion and relegation in their league, while American fans are also showing their appetite for soccer via both viewership and attendance, it’s clear that soccer is here to stay.
Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber agrees in what has been a year when MLS announced that it will move to a European schedule, but there’s more to come for the country’s most prominent soccer league.
“The world hasn’t seen anything like what the World Cup will be in 2026. This is Super Bowls every day for well over a month, and I think that the world will see everything that we in the soccer ecosystem in North America know, that the game really matters here,” Garber said during his state of the league press conference in December.
“People care about it deeply, there’s a revolution going on where our sport is more popular than anybody ever believed, and that’s evidenced by what’s happening in our league, what’s happening in the women’s game, what’s happening in the different structures that are being built, and what’s happening in the communities that are hosting games, all the watch parties that will happen. We’d love to say that it’s the rocket fuel, but this jet has been running for 30 years, and it’s going to run for another 30.”
The impact of the World Cup
When looking at how the league can continue improving at such a rapid rate, you have to examine what the World Cup could bring to American soccer. Since there isn’t a new league coming this time around, there’s much more nuance to what comes next. While the USMNT doing well is something that would be a sign of a strong World Cup, that’s a better indicator of short-term success than long-term success. The performance of the national team can inspire others to want to play soccer, but so can things such as seeing representation in their backyard.
The Algerian national team has been one of the feel-good stories of the World Cup so far, being based in Lawrence, Kansas, and during their community training session, the national team played soccer with kids in the community. Those are moments that will sit with those kids and impact the community for years to come. It’s part of the beauty of spreading out base camps, so these players are truly in the community and are bringing the World Cup to a further scope than just the 16 host cities where games are being played. Just ask the people who came out in Chattanooga, Tenn., to see Spain’s Lamine Yamal.
And there is no telling how it could inspire, despite the hurdles that currently exist. High-level travel teams and some MLS academies require people to pay to play or travel quite long distances to get into soccer. There can be some financial assistance available at times, but when even Clint Dempsey briefly gave up playing youth soccer so that his parents could use that money elsewhere, it shows how fragile this system is.
If you are good enough, you are old enough is a famous quote from Manchester United’s Matt Busby, but in the United States, it can be shifted to, if you’re good enough and well off enough, you’re old enough, and that’s something that has to change. Soccer may not be able to surpass football and basketball to become America’s number one sport, but in a country of almost 350 million, it doesn’t need to be, as there’s plenty of talent to improve the youth setup if it’s accessible to them.
FIFA and U.S. Soccer’s role in accessibility
Speaking to U.S. Soccer, they recognize that pay-to-play is something that needs to be addressed, and via innovate to grow, there’s a plan in place to make soccer more accessible to all. That program was able to build a new center via funding from FIFA Forward. FIFA Forward is a program that reinvests money into member associations to increase the level of soccer while also using oversight to ensure that those funds are used properly.
With Haiti’s World Cup qualification, those funds were used to provide security and assistance with development. Cabo Verde and Curacao have used FIFA Forward funds to improve infrastructure in their countries, and it’s immediately showing results for the first-time qualifiers and returnees to the World Cup after lengthy absences. By the end of 2026, FIFA anticipates investing $5 billion into this program
“Even in the difficulties that some of them that they have to go through in the context of the country, for example Haiti, is unfortunatly going through a very difficult period as a country and it’s difficult to organize football at a domestic level on the island due to lack of security for the time being so there is a normalization committee that FIFA established which has done a tremendous job there in the way that they can, even sometimes being in Haiti with the risk that this entails but we focus with them on the national teams and the possibility to give these girls and boys places to train,” FIFA Director Member Associations Americas, Jair Bertoni said.
Sometimes they have to go abroad to safely do that, but these are the kinds of things that can make soccer accessible globally. Since it’s down to what each nation needs, in the United States, FIFA Forward support has helped U.S. Soccer grow innovations in their own markets, funding around 27 projects. And a goal that they do have is making it easier to play soccer because pay-to-play is a known issue in the country and hinders the ability to grow to the level of other countries.
“It’s a complex issue. It’s not going to be a one-size-fits-all solution for everyone. So, being able to channel funding to them to tailor solutions that really make sense for their communities and make sense for the underserved communities they’re trying to reach is one way,” Melissa Radke, director, member strategy at USSF, said. “And as U.S. Soccer, too, we recognize that there’s additional work to be done. We have some initiatives currently underway, working very closely with our membership, including the professional leagues, on just that. Looking at the different pathways that, that players have, whether they want to move into more competitive or pre-professional environments or stay recreational, whatever’s best for them and their development, and where they want to go in soccer. That’s certainly something that we’re looking at and working very closely with our members on right now, and as those analyses, um, and those efforts move forward, there’ll be more coming out from that.”
There have been improvements to the American coaching system, but this piece is what could be significant in changing the future of soccer in America with the World Cup here a second time around. If U.S. Soccer can capitalize on the inspiration that the 2026 World Cup will bring in America, the sky could be the limit for the next tournament in the United States and for the teams who represent this country.
