I played some baseball in college, boxed some, and was a big NFL and NBA fan, so an average American sports fan. I never played or knew anything about soccer when I was a kid. The first soccer game I ever saw was in the US and I didn't understand the game at all. I wasn't a fan, and I actually had a thing against soccer because of the whole ‘soccer mom’ liberalism at the time.
Then I actually learned about world football, initially in Italy (like Kobe Bryant did), saw a few professional world-class games, and started watching. It's not what you might think. World-class soccer players are outstanding athletes. There are no time outs in soccer, the only way a player can rest is to be subbed out - and they can't come back in after that, and players often run significantly more than a 10K per game. Even if you don't like soccer, you really should give them their due as athletes.
A big issue for the World Cup, or any sports event, and even concerts, is when Ticketmaster or Stubhub start to get involved. Pricing in the U.S. is way out of control.