Friday Newsletter: A Historic Week for Soccer in the United States
Friday Newsletter: A Historic Week for Soccer in the United States
Seattle, Angel City and Nashville All Hosted Defining Big-Event Club Games that Show How Far the Sport Has Come in the U.S.—and Where It's Going
Two days after attending the Seattle Sounders’ historic CONCACAF Champions League triumph in the Pacific Northwest, I’m back in my New York City apartment and, truth be told, exhausted down to my bones.
I’m sure it’s the after-effects of the all-nighter I pulled to write my story, but you know what? I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Being there alongside the 68,741 fans in that sold-out stadium on the night Seattle completed the greatest team accomplishment in MLS history is something I’ll always be thankful for.
Here’s the thing, though: Seattle’s big night was one of three giant pro soccer events that took place in the United States over the past week. And when I say giant soccer events, I mean the kind that people travel from across the country to attend. If I could have traveled to all three of these games, I would have.
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Last Friday, a sold-out crowd of 22,000 filled Banc of California Stadium for the debut game of Angel City, the NWSL’s first team in Los Angeles. And after more than a year of buzz about the team, the game somehow over-delivered. The atmosphere was off the charts. The soccer was good. And the home team scored early and won the game. The story of the team founded and largely run by women was all over the network nightly news and morning shows this week.
Then on Sunday, another sold-out crowd—this time of 30,109—filled Nashville’s gorgeous new soccer stadium, Geodis Park, for the first game of the U.S.’s largest soccer-specific stadium. Again, the festive throng was phenomenal. Again, the soccer was solid. And again, we saw something that felt historic for the sport in this country.
For anyone like me who has covered soccer in the U.S. since the 1990s, it’s remarkable to travel around the country now and see so many stadiums that have been built for soccer. While covering the USMNT’s 14 World Cup qualifiers, I got the chance to visit new stadiums for the first time in Austin, Columbus, Cincinnati and Saint Paul. Each one has its own vibe, its own charms.
The infrastructure for the sport here now is incredible—and that doesn’t even include the new training facilities all over the country. When I went to Italy not long ago for a story on Venezia, I interviewed recently-transferred former MLS players Gianluca Busio and Tanner Tessmann at the club’s training facility. We all agreed it was nowhere near as nice as the ones they’d had with Kansas City and Dallas.
But it’s not just about the buildings. It’s about the human element inside. The players, the fans and the stories that filled the stadiums in Seattle, Los Angeles and Nashville over the past week made traveling across the country to be part of those events entirely worth it.
Sometimes we’re guilty of recency bias when we say that something we just saw was historic. But as I take stock of the last seven days of soccer in the U.S. after covering it for the past two and a half decades, it’s easy (and accurate) to conclude that all three of those events felt like genuine history—and will be remembered as such many, many years down the road.
OPENING THE MAILBAG
Where did you get the CONCACAF hat and for what price?
James
Would you believe that I now have not one but two CONCACAF hats? The first one, with the old hurricane logo, I found online and bought for like $10. But after posting that on my Twitter, a CONCACAF official with a good sense of humor came to me in the Seattle press box on Wednesday and presented me with a present-day CONCACAF hat with the newer logo (which I like to call the Black Panther logo). I think I’ve got my Rob Lowe meme hats for the next decade now.
Do you think the CCL win and fan support at Lumen does anything to secure Seattle some ‘26 World Cup games? I know you’ve said it’s a city you’re hearing good things about but do you think this makes it more of a lock? Do you think this is even something FIFA was looking at?
Abraham
Yeah, I do think it will help some. There were FIFA and CONCACAF officials at the game in Seattle, and they saw what the rest of us saw: A city that lives and breathes soccer and a downtown stadium that’s ideally situated to host World Cup games. I’d be stunned if Seattle isn’t chosen. The one thing that was odd was that FIFA president Gianni Infantino ended up not coming to the game. He often attends continental finals and was said to be in California earlier this week. So why he didn’t come to the game is a mystery.
How much do you think the 2026 World Cup can grow the game in the U.S.? What are your memories about the 1994 WC and the excitement about that domestically and the soccer growth afterwards?
Willie
I’ve learned over the years not to under-predict or over-predict on stuff like this. The fact is that the sport of soccer has in some ways already exceeded where I would have predicted it would be in the U.S. a decade or two ago. Every World Cup creates large numbers of new soccer fans in the U.S., but hosting a World Cup takes it to a new level. I’d argue that the current soccer infrastructure in the U.S. (see above) also puts the country in a better position to take advantage of the ‘26 boost than we were in 1994.
Speaking of ‘94, I have great memories of being a 20-year-old sneaking into Boston bars and watching games with a group of visiting Argentines I became friends with (and trying to explain the O.J. Ford Bronco chase to them one night). I went to Argentina’s first two games in Foxboro and got to see Diego Maradona play in person before he got thrown out of the tournament. (The only other time I’d see Maradona play live would be at his testimonial at La Bombonera in 2001.) For the end of the ‘94 World Cup I was at home in Kansas City and played pickup soccer games with my friends, which we had never done before that summer. Good times!
What impact will the explosion of interest in the women’s game in Europe have on the USWNT’s long-term prospects as a perennial World Cup and Olympic gold medal contender?
ML
I’m fascinated by the rise of the Netherlands and Spain, which both played in their first women’s World Cups just in 2015 and four years later were two of the best teams in the tournament. Since then, the women’s club game in Europe has only grown further, and we’ll see this summer at the women’s Euros how much that growth is translating to the international game. One thing the USWNT has going for it, though, is what Pia Sundhage used to call “that American thing,” the ability to be competitive as hell that European teams haven’t really had. At some point, though, skill is going to be the deciding factor, and we’ll see if the U.S. can keep up.
Can MLS compete with South American clubs? Any chance of a combined competition/ Champions League happening?
Mike
We saw Liga MX teams compete just fine with South American teams when the Mexican sides used to be involved in the Copa Libertadores. So if that’s the case, a team like CCL champion Seattle should be able to go toe-to-toe with South American teams if it can beat Mexican teams in CCL. (We’ll allow that it was a down year for the Mexican teams.) The question is whether the travel demands of a Libertadores for all the Americas would be prohibitive. Buenos Aires to Vancouver for a mid-week game is not a short trip.
Does City crashing out of Champions League change your opinion on Liverpool winning the Premier League and (gasp) the Quadruple? City has nothing left to play for but that Premier League title.
DanO
Not really. Liverpool has only Champions League game left, after all, and it’s not coming until after all the Premier League games are over. I did think it was interesting, though, that on our most recent podcast, City fan Chris Wittyngham said he was convinced that City would now not win the league after the collapse against Real Madrid because he thinks City is mentally toast. I’m not so sure about that.
Did you hear anything (that you can repeat) regarding the location, format and timing of the next FIFA Club World Cup?
Kevin Shields
After the final on Wednesday, Seattle GM Garth Lagerwey said he’s been told it will likely be in February somewhere in the Middle East. That’s about all I’ve heard. Obviously, it’s not going to take place in November or December while the men’s World Cup is happening in Qatar. But it’s going to happen, and it’ll be fun to watch an MLS team play in it.
Which team is most likely to win the second CONCACAF CL title for the MLS? And how long do you think the wait will be?
Devin from State College
I think it will be New York City, and it will happen next year. Now that the dam has broken for MLS teams, times are about to change in a big way.
I can understand the excitement for the USMNT’s prospects in ‘26, but isn’t that at least partially muted by the AWFUL decision to expand to 48 teams. Seems like a crapshoot that anyone gets out of the group with a format that is sure to be worse than the current one. Why is this not more of an outrage?! (I mean, other than the money)
Ryan
I’m with you on this one. Having 16 groups of three teams each is going to be an absolute nightmare during World Cup ‘26, and it means we’re going to see a lot more mutually beneficial results in the final group-stage games that leave eliminated teams beside themselves. For me, 32 teams in the World Cup was perfect. But if they had to expand, I would rather they have gone to 64 than to 48.
Have a good weekend!
I never played futbol. In ‘94, when the WC was here, I decided to see what all the worldwide fuss was about. So after I got home, I turned on whatever game was on TV. And I was *blown away* by the athleticism, skill level, and drama. The Brazilians of Romario & Bebeto. Hristo Stoichkov. Carlos Valderrama.
Later, espn started broadcasting Eredivisie games on Sunday mornings. I’ve been hooked ever since.
In ‘14, we had 9 teenage boys in our living room watching USA-Belgium. 5 had never played. Some were drawn by the hype of the flag, sure, and others were just going with the crowd. But they were all back for the final, which was riveting. All are huge fans of the sport today.
I have a buddy who never watched a game in his life before last summer, and got hooked going to a couple DCFC games. I’m still explaining some of the rules and we’re starting to get into the tactics.
Trust me, hosting the World Cup will be HUGE for the growth of the game here.
And *especially* if the USMNT can win some games and last a few rounds. The dismal performance of ‘98 set the sport back in the US, and the failure of ‘18 put a brake on enthusiasm.