In the football days, recourse was made to the “stereotypical punching bag”.socialist“or one”Sign of moral decline of the country“While substantially reduced, right-wing publications still regularly argue why.”America doesn’t care about football“Or is it a game”Unjust and un-American“.
In recent years, the sport has also served as a lighting rod in the American culture wars, with the US women’s national team in particular coming under fire from Donald Trump and the MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement for its outspoken progressive players.
With the Men’s World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico fast approaching and Donald Trump aggressively promoting the tournament and deepening his relationship with FIFA, the US president faces one of his toughest sells yet: soccer to his supporters.
Trump’s World Cup?
despite this weigh on In America’s eternal ‘football’ vs. ‘soccer’ debate, much of Trump’s soccer push is not directly related to the game.
“Compared to other countries around the world, football is less political here,” Jeffrey Cross, a political scientist at Wagner College in New York, told DW. “This upcoming World Cup has taken on a political flavor in many ways.”
He added, “There is a sense that FIFA has embraced President Trump, which certainly associates the tournament with the president.”
Trump’s deepening relationship with FIFA President Gianni Infantino and FIFA’s partnership with the President’s new Peace Board have helped make Trump the face of a continent-spanning World Cup.
To some conservatives, Trump’s enthusiasm for football does not seem unreasonable given his attitudes toward popular sports in general.
“He’s always been a player — just look at his connection to the UFC and wrestling,” Chris Vance, president of the UCLA Young Republicans, told DW. “He’s always been about entertainment, he was in that business for a long time, so it makes sense.”
development of football culture
Although American soccer is generally not as highly politicized as in many parts of Europe, its younger and immigrant-heavy fan base tends to be more progressive by comparison.
Anti-ICE protests have been a major point of contention between Major League Soccer (MLS) fans and league officials since Trump’s re-election.
Ryan Shirah, a member of the ‘American Outlaws’ US national team supporters group who has attended more than 120 men’s and women’s US matches, argues that although most fans avoid politics in the stands, they largely lean in the same direction.
“I wouldn’t shy away from the fact that there’s a humanitarian element there — I think most soccer fans in America lean on the more progressive, human rights-focused side of things,” Shirah told DW.
Shirah said political tensions were highest among supporters immediately after Trump’s first election, where there were concerns that Trump’s anti-Mexican rhetoric would spill into the stands at the USA vs. Mexico World Cup qualifier in Columbus, Ohio.
“We didn’t know what was going to happen if people were trying to shout slogans like ‘build the wall,'” Sirah said. “It’s something we didn’t want to bring into our environment and we kept out. Generally, we didn’t really have an issue.”
Soccer’s continued growth means the political makeup of its American fans is likely to change.
“Ever since the U.S. hosted the 1994 World Cup, soccer has become a big part of American life,” said political scientist Cross. “Most of the population growth since the ’90s has been through immigration, and many of the people who came here brought their love of the ‘beautiful game.’
Growing Republican support among Latinos in the 2024 election shows that the political views of immigrants, many of whom are driving the growth of the sport in the US, can evolve and potentially change American soccer culture.
And while Lionel Messi’s arrival in Miami has drawn widespread attention to the sport, organizers hope the 2026 World Cup can push soccer further into the American mainstream. As it grows bigger, football will attract more and more conservative fans.
Cross said, “I live on Staten Island, one of the most suburban and conservative boroughs in New York City. When I was young, on Saturdays you would drive by and the athletic fields would be full of kids playing baseball. Now it’s football.” It’s probably worth noting that Staten Island is the only NYC borough won by Donald Trump in 2024.
The next MAGA sports sensation?
Vance, who admits he is a bit different from his peers because of his interest in football, is excited to play a World Cup match in Los Angeles, USA.
“It’s nice to have it hosted here. I think of it almost as a conservative sport because it’s community-based, or at least not a politically inclined sport,” he said.
Organized supporters like Shirah do not pay much attention to potential political differences with fellow fans, as long as they can maintain a welcoming atmosphere in the stadium.
He said, “We haven’t played any big tournaments since the election, but if we don’t have to then why have that (expletive) nonsense in the stadium? So far, everything is fine.”
“We don’t care what you do after 90 minutes or what podcast you listen to. If you’re passionate about the team and not using profanity or anything, that’s OK. We all have different walks of life, and I think that’s what makes America great.”
First, the United States must perform successfully at the World Cup to make the most of a generational opportunity. If they can do that, existing supporters will have to worry about the politics of new fans – a problem many of them probably won’t like.
Edited by: Jonathan Harding