The Growth of Soccer in the United States and Its Cultural Rise
By Daniel Pena
Over the past three decades, soccer has transformed from a niche sport into one of the fastest-growing forces in American sports. What was once considered an outsider among traditional American sports like American football, baseball, basketball, and ice hockey now sits at the heart of youth development, professional leagues, and mainstream sports culture.
With rising viewership, record average attendance, and the 2026 World Cup arriving on home soil, soccer’s cultural rise isn’t a question anymore. The real question is how far it can go?
In this blog post, I will go over how soccer built its early foundations in the United States, how professional soccer leagues like Major League Soccer drove its expansion, how the sport embedded itself in American communities, and why the 2026 World Cup could be the biggest turning point in American soccer history.
Early Foundations and the Turning Point of 1994
In its early days, soccer struggled to compete with American football, baseball, basketball, and ice hockey, making it a very niche sport played throughout youth soccer, college soccer, and local clubs. However, this all changed in 1994 when the United States hosted the FIFA World Cup, a moment that dramatically increased soccer interest, transformed millions of casual fans into die-hard fans, and proved that the country could host World Cup matches at scale.
The tournament’s success created the foundation for organized soccer at the professional level and directly launched Major League Soccer, giving American soccer fans their first professional division one domestic league. The World Cup’s impact marked the real starting point for growth in American soccer, setting up modern professional teams, rising soccer viewership, and long-term cultural relevance.
The Expansion of MLS and Other Professional Soccer Leagues
Following the success of the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Major League Soccer evolved from a fragile startup league into the backbone of professional soccer in the United States. Over the past three decades, MLS clubs have expanded across the country, invested in soccer-specific stadiums, improved youth development pathways, and even attracted some of the biggest names in the world of soccer.
The problem with Major League Soccer is that it is a closed system with no real promotion and relegation, which ruins the rest of the American soccer pyramid, since teams have to buy their way in, and there is no real sporting merit for lower league clubs. The somewhat good news is that there are other lower-level professional and semi-professional leagues, such as the USL Championship, USL League 1, USL League 2, NISA, UPSL, NPWL, and the NWSL for women, that create more opportunities for players, fans, and local communities to engage with the game.
Together, these semi-professional and professional leagues have normalized soccer as part of everyday American sports culture, increasing average attendance, boosting soccer viewership, and fueling the long-term growth of soccer in the United States. However, if the United States wants to be taken seriously as a soccer country, it must continue to strengthen its professional pyramid the right way, improve competitive pathways, and create a system that prioritizes sporting merit, meaningful competition, and long-term sustainability over franchise-based expansion alone.
The Cultural Rise of Soccer in American Communities
Beyond professional teams, soccer has rooted itself in American communities through youth soccer, local clubs, and grassroots programs that introduce millions of kids to the game early. The growth of MLS, the success of the women’s national team at multiple World Cups, the success of the men’s national team in domestic and international competitions, and American soccer players breaking into elite European leagues have all contributed to the rise in popularity of U.S soccer.
Soccer isn’t just something kids play anymore. Families now follow it closely through local clubs, college soccer, professional soccer, and global competitions that have American players, like the Premier League and FIFA World Cup. Soccer interest has expanded beyond niche audiences into casual sports fans, making it one of the fastest-growing and most culturally relevant sports in the United States today.
Although the sport is still not as popular as traditional American sports like American football, basketball, or baseball, soccer in the United States is barely three decades into its modern professional era, and its rapid growth, youthful fan base, and deep community roots suggest its cultural influence is still in the early stages of its rise.
The 2026 World Cup and the Future of U.S. Soccer's Cultural Influence
The 2026 FIFA World Cup represents the most important moment for soccer growth in the United States since the 1994 World Cup, but this time the sport arrives in a far more mature environment. With thriving professional soccer leagues, record soccer viewership, and a growing base of American soccer fans, hosting World Cup matches on home soil could push soccer to another level.
This tournament will expose millions of casual sports fans to the modern game, inspire the next generation through youth development, and elevate both the national team and domestic league in different ways. If leveraged correctly, the World Cup’s impact could permanently place soccer as a major sport in the United States rather than just a rising alternative to American football, baseball, or basketball.
These developments show that soccer growth in the United States has come from long-term foundations, expanding professional leagues, and deep cultural adoption at the community level. With the 2026 World Cup acting as a global spotlight, soccer isn’t chasing legitimacy in American sports culture anymore—it’s defining its own lasting place within it.
