The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be staged across three North American nations, marking the first time the tournament is shared by Mexico, Canada and the United States.
The curious history behind the word 'soccer'
In the United States the sport is commonly referred to as soccer, a term that sets it apart from the global nomenclature of football.
Origins in Oxford
The word soccer actually traces its roots to 19th‑century England, where students at the University of Oxford began shortening the phrase ‘association football’ and adding the suffix ‘er’ to create ‘assoccer’, later simplified to soccer.
A term that travelled
A 1905 letter to The New York Times and references in the Encyclopaedia Britannica show how the abbreviation evolved, cementing the term in American English while it faded in Europe.
Modern usage
Although soccer spread rapidly throughout Europe and South America, it never gained the same popularity in the United States, where other sports like American football and baseball dominate the cultural landscape.
Today, the countries that still use the term soccer include the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa and Japan, a list that reflects historical linguistic paths rather than current sporting preferences.