OFFICIAL 2026 US/Canada/Mexico World Cup Thread

[Omaha 680]

The world cup is not the highest quality soccer tournament. It is the most popular and draws in so many casual fans because of the passion involved. Think college football vs nfl. Or the reason people get excited about speed skating every four years. Personally I am a fan of the gsme from crappy leagues to the champions league but world cup is the most enjoyable.

Currently trying to fulfill a 34 year dream of seeing the US team in the world cup. My flight to Seattle from JFK was supposed to leave 4 hours ago. We sat on the tarmac for 3 hours then deplaned. Now we are at a new gate supposedly getting a new plane but there are no agents in sight. And of course its the earliest kick time of the day (noon local) so we have no cushion to get there tomorrow morning. Its tonight or shattered dreams.

[Pelado]

I did watch in 86 and liked it but had watched very little soccer before that world cup. The US wasn't in it, but my mom's birthplace being Uruguay gave me a team to follow. What really got me hooked was in 88 on my mission to the Netherlands when they won Euro. There was no point in doing the standard missionary activities during games when the Dutch were playing. In the semifinal they had to play Germany in Hamburg, so we watched the game with some "investigator" friends. They weren't really investigating but they were super nice people friendly to us which I've always appreciated. Watching the game played at a very high level instead of how Americans played it back then was eye opening to me and it was a blast. The Dutch won and the whole country went nuts. The championship a few days later was almost anticlimactic.

Amen in Argentina during the gold medal match of the 1996 Olympics.

Afterwards, we tried tracting and when we asked this one guy if we could share a message with him about Jesus Christ, he responded - with a depressed look on his face - something like, "I can't, I just can't" (but in Spanish).

[BlueK]

Agree. Also, LDS folks are not a n accurate representative sample when it comes to soccer appreciation, IMO. Too many have served in countries where futbol is life. People over 40 who have never lived for an extended period in a soccer-crazed country are much less likely to have embraced soccer than someone who spent two years playing soccer on P-days and seeing empty streets when the national team was playing.

Absolutely. LDS are not typical on this compared to the rest of the population.

[Donuthole]

Roll away, but what I said about interest being generational matches the research data.

https://yougov.com/en-us/articles/54...fifa-world-cup

Agree. Also, LDS folks are not a n accurate representative sample when it comes to soccer appreciation, IMO. Too many have served in countries where futbol is life. People over 40 who have never lived for an extended period in a soccer-crazed country are much less likely to have embraced soccer than someone who spent two years playing soccer on P-days and seeing empty streets when the national team was playing.

[BlueK]

Roll away, but what I said about interest being generational matches the research data.

https://yougov.com/en-us/articles/54777-soccer-is-gaining-ground-in-the-us-ahead-of-the-fifa-world-cup

[Moliere]

I have a soft spot for Switzerland. I’m glad they have a chance to advance.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I'm hard pressed to find any baby boomers who ever picked it up or who watch it now, despite it becoming accessible on TV.

[BlueK]

I find the World Cup interesting. All other soccer I find boring. I don’t know why that is, but I imagine it’s due to the high level of soccer played at the World Cup relative to other leagues. Soccer is like baseball to me in that games are kind of boring unless you are at the stadium. But baseball has the playoffs, which are intriguing and soccer is boring pretty much anytime…other than the World Cup.

I don't watch club soccer, only the national teams. I agree if you've been watching the world cup and then turn on a MLS game it's a huge shock in terms of quality. I do enjoy some of the other big international tournaments though, like Euro. I'll also watch Copa America and sometimes Gold Cup, but that's it.

[Moliere]

Maybe I should give it a second shot. I tried in 94 when I had soccer crazed roomates and could not make it through a whole game. I haven't bothered to watch since.

I find the World Cup interesting. All other soccer I find boring. I don’t know why that is, but I imagine it’s due to the high level of soccer played at the World Cup relative to other leagues. Soccer is like baseball to me in that games are kind of boring unless you are at the stadium. But baseball has the playoffs, which are intriguing and soccer is boring pretty much anytime…other than the World Cup.

[BlueK]

Maybe I should give it a second shot. I tried in 94 when I had soccer crazed roomates and could not make it through a whole game. I haven't bothered to watch since.

I did watch in 86 and liked it but had watched very little soccer before that world cup. The US wasn't in it, but my mom's birthplace being Uruguay gave me a team to follow. What really got me hooked was in 88 on my mission to the Netherlands when they won Euro. There was no point in doing the standard missionary activities during games when the Dutch were playing. In the semifinal they had to play Germany in Hamburg, so we watched the game with some "investigator" friends. They weren't really investigating but they were super nice people friendly to us which I've always appreciated. Watching the game played at a very high level instead of how Americans played it back then was eye opening to me and it was a blast. The Dutch won and the whole country went nuts. The championship a few days later was almost anticlimactic.

[BlueK]

Premier League and other Euro matches were shown on PBS when I was a kid/young soccer player.

I remember that. The key letters being PBS however. Very niche audience at the time.

[BlueK]

Interesting, and I agree. Although I remain in your dad's category. I'm enjoying watching some of the games and will do so even after/if the US is eliminated.

Yeah, since you've been posting here I knew you were an exception. When I was in my 20s at work it was funny how my older coworkers were dismissive of the world cup and having a hard time understanding why anyone would like it, while nearly all my coworkers who were my age were watching it.

[Copelius]

Maybe I should give it a second shot. I tried in 94 when I had soccer crazed roomates and could not make it through a whole game. I haven't bothered to watch since.

[Shaka]

Premier League and other Euro matches were shown on PBS when I was a kid/young soccer player.

[PaloAltoCougar]

I think the increase in popularly of soccer in the US is 90% a generational thing with huge help from the advances in technology starting in the late 80s that made it easily accessible on TV. But Gen X is the first generation to watch international soccer in any significant numbers. I'm hard pressed to find any baby boomers who ever picked it up or who watch it now, despite it becoming accessible on TV. My dad, an avid college football and basketball fan still couldn't care less about the World Cup. My teenage kids will watch with me. But even before that, soccer began to be popular in the US as a youth rec sport in the 70s, and I think that's why Gen X was the first generation to start to get into it.

The technology piece is the other enormously important factor. Before 1986 there was no broadcaster for the World Cup showing the games in the US. When most people could only get 3-6 channels on their TV there wasn't going to be room for it. In 86 just having graduated from HS I remember going to BYU to watch the games in Spanish since Univision was the only way to get the games. It was pretty cool, I thought, to watch it that way.

Then for the first time in 40 years the US finally had a team qualify for the 1990 WC in Italy and ESPN decided to carry it, which was the first time a US English language broadcaster picked it up. FIFA awarded the 94 tournament to the US and I remember it surprised a lot of boomers at the time what a huge success it was with sold out stadiums and high TV ratings with real Americans buying most of the tickets. The audience being 90% under age 35-40. I think the shock to older generations was that so many younger than them thought it was cool, and a lot of the older guard Sports media was still quite cynical and dismissive.

Interesting, and I agree. Although I remain in your dad's category. I'm enjoying watching some of the games and will do so even after/if the US is eliminated.