The Game Beyond Borders
When the 2026 FIFA World Cup opens its doors across three nations, the United States will be front and center, not just as a host but as a market that has long been an outlier in the world of soccer.
Andrés Martinez, a professor at Arizona State University and author of a recent book on the sport, grew up in a bilingual household in Mexico before moving to the United States at fifteen. He recalls the shock of stepping into a culture where soccer was barely a footnote, a moment that sparked his lifelong inquiry into why the U.S. lagged behind its global peers. Martinez conducts his research at the university’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, where the Great Game Lab serves as a hub for sport‑media innovation.
His research traces the roots of that lag to a historical disconnect from international sports culture, a gap that began to narrow with the passage of Title IX in the early 1970s, which opened athletic opportunities for American women and laid the groundwork for the women’s national team’s unprecedented success on the world stage. Globalization has since accelerated the sport’s penetration, and today the United States is viewed as a legitimate soccer nation.
The commercial landscape reflects that shift. A majority of clubs in the English Premier League are now owned by U.S. investors, a trend that has sparked both optimism and unease among traditional fans who fear commercialization could dilute the sport’s heritage. Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, has repeatedly framed American involvement as a catalyst for growth, citing the 26 million viewers who tuned in for the 2022 World Cup final and the United States’ status as the most profitable market for the federation.
Yet the influx of global superstars such as Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi, who command massive followings in the U.S., also fuels a sense of cultural exchange that some see as a positive evolution. At the same time, long‑time supporters worry that the sport’s soul may be reshaped by market forces that prioritize profit over tradition.