An impassioned crowd can lead to an impassioned team. I was at the Italy match at the 2006 World Cup. The crowd was split 50/50. The Italians sang their national anthem and then it was our turn. Kaiserslautern is near a US air base and that helped with the number of Americans that were there. The Europeans were taken aback when we belted out the loudest most meaningful Star Spangled Banner I have ever heard. I had tears streaming down my face by time it was over. That joy and zest continued throughout. The team responded by playing their hearts out. At the end of the game our players just laid down on the field from pure exhaustion. The match ended in a tie but I have never been more proud of my National team or the fans.
Hopefully the ticket prices don’t push everyone out for 2026. But I think even very casual soccer fans and non-sports fans will understand the moment when it comes. The US loves supporting its teams and loves a big event. These will be big pro-US crowds, except for maybe against those few Latin American teams that can overwhelm the US fans (or at least split the stadium). Colombia, for instance, is a possible US group stage opponent as it stands now.
They will be pro-US crowds if we promote the event that way. If the event is promoted with half-hearted, anti-nationalistic nonsense, our national team will continue to play away games at home, this time in the World Cup.
The World Cup does not require any promotion. It and the Olympics stand alone as international sporting events that capture mainstream interest. It has nothing to do with how the USMNT is “promoted”. The Latin American teams take over stadiums against the USMNT because they have massive fanbases in the US, their games in the US are (somewhat) rare events, and soccer is a number one passion for a high percentage. Hence, they’ll travel greater distances within the US and pay higher prices to see their team. But beyond those few countries, no one else is turning the USMNT matches into “away” matches at the World Cup. It’ll be a packed, pro-US crowd against any Euro, Asian, African, or smaller Latin American opponent. Only the large and well-traveling Euro countries (England, Germany, maybe Italy) would have any major presence at all in the stadium against the USMNT.
I see your point, but in America we will need to promote the USMNT. The sports market is extremely crowded and people are generally unaware of what is on the calendar. Even sports fans are unaware of many events. I live in LA and even the Lakers need promotion to cut through the entertainment saturation. Hopefully American companies like Nike and Gatorade will go all in with the USMNT. Unlikely, but they should.
When there’s money to be made and jerseys to sell, the USMNT sponsors will be all in for the World Cup. Same as ever. LA (and NY) definitely have so much else going on that the World Cup can be overshadowed. But it’s more comparable to the Lakers or Dodgers playing in the NBA Finals or World Series, which I’d have to imagine transcends the sports world in LA into being a big deal with general interest and enthusiasm.
Given Trump's behavior on the national and international stage, the USMNT is really gonna have a hard time getting Americans who aren't Soccer fans to pay attention to the World Cup on home soil. If anything, he's gonna try to make the World Cup about himself, like he does with everything else. God help us if he stupidly invades Canada or Greenland and gets the USA kicked out of every global sport. American patriotism these days is at an all time low. There's very little, if anything, for Americans to feel proud of as a country. As a country and society, the USA is collapsing all around us.
No, most people won’t let some political drama prevent them from enjoying the world’s greatest sporting event. And, for the record, there’s plenty to be proud of in the US, no matter who the president is.
I will take that bet. There's nothing I hate more than normalizing that man, but exaggerating like this helps nothing.
Yes? We're not the first country in the world to elect a right wing populist I went to Erdogan's Turkey last year during local elections with pretty large protests and had one of the best vacations of my life. Budapest is a city I'd love to visit one day, Orban or not. If Brazil ever gets another World Cup and I have a chance to go, a Bolsanaro-like character running the country is not gonna stop me. Like the last 2 World Cups were in Qatar and Russia and they largely went fine, India just hosted The Cricket World Cup and I don't think Modi caused too many people to say home. Hell we just had the 4 Nations Faceoff a couple weeks ago which was an incredible success despite being an All Star Game substitute. There are hundreds of millions of people if not billions of people who would jump at the chance to spend a week in New York, LA, or Miami to see their country play in a World Cup, not to mention we could probably sell out a lot of stadiums with just US Citizens alone. I want to be clear this is not a defense nor an attempt to normalize our President. The fact that I'm lumping him in with Erdogan or Orban is ********ing horrifying, but the nefarious consequences of that are going to be a lot more subtle. Istanbul and Budapest have hosted Champions League Finals It wouldn't surprise if government incompetence and cuts leads to Visa issues for some people, but the United States is not in 15 months going to transform into a country incapable of hosting a World Cups. The stadiums will be full, no team that qualifies will boycott, the sponsors will pay out the ass, millions of people will enter the country, and almost all of them will have a good time (and if they don't it won't be because of Washington)
I am not sure you do realize what's going on in the world right now. You might end up with Chinese, Russian and North Korean visitors. Trump is way more than just a populist leader rising to power through fake news. He's alienating and threatening your closest friends and those are not only political interactions, no, it has reached the normal people. If you think you will have an ordinary World Cup next year, oh boy, you will be in for a surprise.
He's isolating us from our closest allies he's not gonna attack any of them. EU fans didn't boycott games in London after Brexit. We've seen Putin host an Olympics and a World Cup with the last 11 years and after Crimea and Georgia invasions. Keep some freaking perspective here. The consequences of a Trump presidency will be felt for a long time in a lot of different ways but it probably won't be felt very much on a week long trip to Atlanta lol
No, Trump is much different and nobody can feel save to not get attacked. Check out Canadian or Danish news outlets. Nobody in Europe feels save. It has reached a level that everybody thinks about buying any American armor because you could easily force your customers (see Gripen deal, Patriot systems etc.). Your administration act hostile. A very different approach to Brexit. 2018 Russia is also a different thing, because nobody did trade, investments and cooperations with Russia as we all do with the US. This has a way bigger influence on anybody including Your own country. I can see Americans filling the stadiums because the sport is growing but as I said,. if you think this will be an ordinary world cup, you are in for a harsh wakeup. And do you know what's best: we don't have to guess at all, just wait another year. So, let's just agree to disagree and get back on it next year. Edit: to add a thing: Russia had debates and questions mark all over it. It also lacked atmosphere, many football fans denied to travel. Same with Qatar 2022 which was a scandal as well and a burden to fans and controversies all over the place. Depending on how Trump will act the next year will have a massive influence. Can't see a silver lining at the horizon but that's only my perspective of course.
The tournament will be a massive success overall. The USMNT will be even more disliked than usual among foreign fans but the casual “Team USA” bandwagon domestic fans will be there as well to balance things out.
Your panties are in a twist. The 94 WC was the best-attended WC ever, and the US has consistently been among the nations with the highest numbers of foreign tourism, behind only France and Spain (less-relevant, but the US generates faaar more revenue than anyone else from those tourists, which makes me think cost will not stop people, just as it doesn't stop them now). The US has Chinese tourism now, just like the entire world does. Please wake up to the reality that they're the largest tourist nationality in the world by a country mile. They're only constrained when their Government restricts their movement/overseas spending, which has happened in the past, especially as a byproduct of the Social Credit rollout, which restricts internal and external travel. Russians and North Koreans are heavily sanctioned, as you know, and historically, Russian tourists flocked to Europe and North Africa far more than the US. Whatever your reasons, I hope sanctimonious fans like you stay home and pat yourselves on the back. I'd prefer enjoying the World Cup with people who are more soccer fans than political operatives. I may get to see one game in-person depending on where it's being hosted and the prices, and I'd rather not have to spend it talking domestic politics with foreign tourists.