Americans Still Don’t Enjoy Soccer

The Lid ^ | 27 Nov 2022 | Ari Kaufman

[Rummyfan]

For the last 10 days, moral superiors have pressured everyday Americans to heed attention to “football,” or as we deem it, soccer — so as not to be confused with the more popular sport.

Americans Still Don’t Enjoy Soccer

On Tuesday, the United States men’s national soccer team’s brief run in a Persian Gulf nation riddled with anti-Semites and misogynistic policies will end if the team doesn’t beat Iran, a squad with braver men than ours.

If you live in the Twitter cesspool or an urban bubble, you likely are under the erroneous impression that most Americans enjoy soccer, but as in so many other areas, Twitter and large cities do not represent real life.

I frequently travel the country by car and therefore meet a massive cross-section of people in various regions; no one I know is following the World Cup, even those whose children play soccer on weekends. No blue-collar or rural guy or suburban family is sitting down tomorrow afternoon to watch 90 minutes of dullness on the pitch.

A poll from earlier this year found that barely 7% of our countrymen consider themselves avid soccer fans, well behind football, baseball, basketball, and even hockey. This is the same percentage as those declaring they’re avid golf fans, a sport whose popularity is actually growing.

Again, despite the best efforts of corrupt FIFA and assorted soccer boosters in the last few decades, the sport will not catch on here, mainly because once some Americans watch “the beautiful game,” they realize its banality.

[Rummyfan]

FWIW USA defeats Iran 1 - 0 and moves on to the knock-out round. Next up The Netherlands on Saturday.

[MinorityRepublican]

FWIW USA defeats Iran 1 - 0 and moves on to the knock-out round.

Iran won't be happy about that.