Three members of the American Outlaws, the United States’ most expansive soccer fan collective, have swapped stadium seats for highway miles, driving 3,388 miles from Chicago to Santa Monica along the historic Route 66 in a bid to catch the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
A Route 66 pilgrimage for the beautiful game
Founded in 2007 in Lincoln, Nebraska, the American Outlaws now boasts roughly 30,000 active members spread across more than 200 local chapters, operating independently of U.S. Soccer while championing a vibrant, patriotic fan culture.
The trio—Philip Labas, Logan Pederson and Ryan Shirah—first crossed paths in Doha during the 2022 World Cup, where a Facebook encounter turned into roommate camaraderie; Labas now leads chants, Shirah pounds the drums, and Pederson rounds out the on‑field orchestration.
Their journey is as much about community building as it is about the matches; they view soccer as an outlier in a sports landscape dominated by baseball, basketball and football, and they aim to reshape how Americans experience the sport.
Beyond the stadium lights
The road trip underscores the sacrifices fans make—time, money, and employer goodwill—yet the bond forged on the highway mirrors the camaraderie they cultivate in stadiums, extending the Outlaws’ mission to grow the game nationwide.
As the 2026 tournament approaches, the Outlaws see their cross‑country trek as a microcosm of a larger movement: a grassroots effort to embed soccer into the American cultural fabric, turning every mile into a chant for the future of the sport.