Soccer star Lionel Messi announced his retirement from international soccer on Monday, just three weeks after his father died at 68 following a battle with illness.
Messi announced the decision via Instagram, sharing a photo of three handwritten pages that contained his full statement — which he said he&#8217;d originally penned on July 21, two days after his team&#8217;s heartbreaking loss to Spain in the World Cup Final.
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Messi&#8217;s statement, translated, began: &#8220;After the time that has passed since the final, and after giving it a lot of thought, I want to let everyone know that I am retiring from the National Team &#8230;&#8221;
&#8220;It was a decision that hurt — and still hurts deep down — but I understand that the time has come. I swear to you that I always gave it my all — not just in these last few years when we won everything, but before that too; I always fought and left everything on the field for this jersey, to bring you joy and make you feel proud to be Argentine through football,&#8221; he wrote.
He went on to say that his retirement was not just a recognition that his own time on the pitch was coming to an end — but also that it was time for him to clear the way for some of the younger players who would carry the team forward in the coming years.
&#8220;Time is running short, chapters come to a close, and this is one that hurts me deeply. I love, have loved, and will always love being part of the National Team. I’ve given everything I had; I have nothing left to give, and besides, there are some great young players coming up who deserve to be here,&#8221; he explained. &#8220;Thank you for all the affection over these past 20 years. I will miss hearing you from the pitch so much. Now I’ll be just one of you, cheering and supporting from the outside (through the good times and the bad — especially the bad).&#8221;
He offered his sincere thanks to family and friends, as well as to his coaches, teammates, and even officials with whom he&#8217;d worked and played over the years: &#8220;I take with me unforgettable memories and moments.&#8221;
&#8220;I leave with the peace of mind and pride of having given you — alongside my teammates — moments we once only dreamed of. It was an incredible experience to live this with you all. I love you. Thank you, God, for making me Argentine,&#8221; he added. &#8220;Let&#8217;s go, Argentina!&#8221;
Messi will still continue his career in Major League Soccer with Inter Miami, where the league with 18 goals so far this season.
&#8220;I wrote these words on July 21st, two days after the final. Today, after what happened with my dad, I am even more convinced than before.&#8221;

FBL-MLS-INTER MIAMI-TORONTO FC

SHOCK MOVE: Messi Delivers Emotional Message To Argentina

SHOCK MOVE: Messi Announces Retirement From Argentina's National Team

argentina national team

inter miami

lionel messi

soccer

sports

world cup

The charred body of a 53-year-old sports journalist was found on Sunday, sparking an investigation into his death as a suspected homicide.
Investigators believe Luigi &#8220;Luca&#8221; Esposito was shot to death and then set on fire. Firefighters discovered Esposito&#8217;s charred body while extinguishing a brush fire on farmland near Eboli, located in the province of Salerno, Italy. Local reports indicate shell casings were found at the scene.
Investigators are examining both Esposito&#8217;s personal and professional relationships as they work to determine a motive. Italian media have reported that investigators are currently focusing more heavily on his private life than his journalism, though officials have not ruled out a connection to his reporting.
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The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) <a href="https://cpj.org/2026/07/sports-journalist-luca-esposito-killed-in-italy">called</a> for a thorough investigation into the matter, specifically any ties to his journalism.
&#8220;We are deeply shocked by the brutal killing of Italian sports journalist Luca Esposito,&#8221; CPJ&#8217;s Europe representative Attila Mong said. &#8220;Italian authorities must act quickly and transparently to establish the full circumstances and determine whether this terrible event is linked to Luca Esposito&#8217;s journalism.&#8221;
Esposito, whose legal first name was Luigi but went by Luca, was editor-in-chief of the local soccer news website TuttoSalernitana.com. He also <a href="https://x.com/lucesp75">contributed</a> to the newspaper La Città di Salerno, appeared as a soccer commentator on regional broadcaster Otto Channel, and wrote for TuttoC.com.
Local reports indicate Esposito was last seen on the evening of July 17, before he stopped answering his phone and missed a planned meeting. According to a Salerno-based site, <a href="https://salerno.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/26_luglio_20/luca-esposito-il-giornalista-ucciso-e-poi-bruciato-una-sola-auto-sul-posto-forse-l-assassino-e-arrivato-con-lui-domani-l-autopsia-816c33c2-4693-438b-a2ec-7273739c8xlk_amp.shtml">analysis</a> of Esposito&#8217;s phone records shows that his last phone call was exchanged on Saturday evening with a colleague, at around 10:30 p.m. A woman named Mary Esposito said in a social media post that he had planned to travel to a property in Agropoli before he disappeared.
Mary, who has been described in the Italian press as a close friend, posted photos to Facebook with the journalist on Sunday and added the caption (translated from Italian), &#8220;These are just a very small number of the photos in our life together. Only those who know us know what I was for you and you were for me. You will always be with me Luca <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="xz74otr x15mokao x1ga7v0g x16uus16 xbiv7yw" src="https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/t86/2/16/1f494.png" alt="💔" width="16" height="16" />&#8220;
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Luca Esposito

Sports Journalist Found Shot, Burned In Brutal Killing

Sports Journalist Turns Up Dead In Brutal Execution Scene 

italy

journalist

world

Think of the great accomplishments of civilization: skyscrapers reaching toward heaven, bridges joining divided peoples, dams powering ambitious societies. How many have been built by human beings using only their feet?
Not many, right?
So, as we bring the mind-numbing boredom of another World Cup to an end, please explain our nation’s new fascination with soccer.
Civilization took off when our ancestors stood upright, developed opposable thumbs, and learned to use tools. The hand fashioned the spear, raised the cathedral, laid the railroad, split the atom, and put a man on the moon. Human beings stopped merely living in the world and began shaping it to their intentions.
Soccer responded to our magnificent evolutionary ascent by prohibiting the use of the hand.
After millions of years of progress, soccer asks humanity to put its most useful equipment in its pants pocket.
Here is a game in which modern human beings voluntarily surrender their principal biological advantage and spend 90 minutes trying to maneuver a ball with the precision of a bear opening a refrigerator.
In American sports, effort usually produces some identifiable result. Football measures achievement yard by yard. Baseball records every pitch, hit, run, and error. Basketball rewards successful action so reliably that the scoreboard routinely reaches three digits, unless we count the WNBA as basketball. American sport operates on a simple assumption: If extraordinary athletes exert themselves for several hours, something should be accomplished.
Soccer makes no such rash promise. And it frequently delivers.
A soccer match can conclude 0–0, a score traditionally associated with a game that has not been played. A 2–0 result is considered an exciting blowout. Fans can watch nearly two hours of strenuous activity only to discover that neither side has achieved anything. Soccer remains stubbornly unwilling to happen.
Except, of course, for the penalties. There is true drama only when a player is brushed by a passing breeze. Down he goes as if plugged by Dirty Harry. He grabs his leg, rolls across the grass, and pleads to the referee. Thirty seconds later, the performance is over. He’s back on his feet, running as if nothing happened.
This theatrical suffering is not incidental to soccer. It is part of the strategy. Because goals are so scarce, an official’s ruling can matter more than ages of athletic effort. The referee reviews the collision. Video officials review the referee. Television analysts review the video officials. Millions of spectators then wait for a ruling from soccer’s administrative state.
In an elimination match, a tie may finally be settled by a penalty shootout, a ceremony only loosely related to the original contest. It is as if the Super Bowl ended in a tie and the championship was decided by a game of beer pong. The soccer authorities award a victory; the players do not earn it.
This explains why soccer doesn’t fit comfortably within the American imagination.
Historian Frederick Jackson Turner argued that the frontier helped shape the American character: individualism, practical ingenuity, restless energy, and a determination to overcome obstacles rather than be their victim. Turner’s theory describes something recognizably American.
The frontier did not reward elegant suffering. It rewarded people who crossed the river, raised the barn, harvested the crop, and made it over the mountain.
American games reflect that inheritance. They divide territory, measure advances, record individual contributions, and produce winners. Their statistics are not just decorations. They express a national conviction that performance should be measured, excellence recognized, and achievement rewarded. A scoreboard is America’s incentive system celebrated in lights.
Soccer comes from a different world. Its admirers praise its accessibility, and they have a point. A child does not need pads, helmets, bats, baskets, or a manicured diamond. All he needs is a ball and a patch of ground.
That simplicity helped make soccer the world’s game. But scarcity is not an American virtue. Our nation did not escape poverty by romanticizing it. We triumphed by inventing tools, increasing productivity, rewarding accomplishment, and refusing to accept a scoreless afternoon as adequate.
“The Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton,” goes the famous observation credited to the Duke of Wellington. The historical attribution is a little shaky, but the larger idea is sound: The games a culture plays help form the habits it carries into the future.
If that is true, give me the playing field where progress is visible, achievement is rewarded, and somebody wins.
Give me the game played with hands.
***
Alex Castellanos is a co-founder of Purple Strategies, a bipartisan public affairs firm, and appears regularly on Fox News.

Wycombe Wanderers FC v Bolton Wanderers FC – Sky Bet League One

Soccer: The World’s Least American Game

american culture

american exceptionalism

DW Opinion

Images of a young Lionel Messi giving Spain’s young phenom Lamine Yamal a bath — taken nearly two decades ago for a charity calendar — are resurfacing ahead of their clash in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final.
When Lamine Yamal first burst onto the soccer scene in 2024, his father, Mounir Nasraoui, took to Instagram to <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C9AwXuKtlgB/?igsh=bjAyeW1nY2g1OWkx">post a baby picture</a> of his son — who, at the time, was playing with Spain’s national team during the UEFA European Championship.
“The beginning of two legends,” the caption read. The image was one of a handful taken during a 2007 photoshoot, and featured Messi holding an infant Yamal. Other photos from the same shoot were released to the public after Nasraoui’s post went viral.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨🇪🇸🇦🇷 Lionel Messi with Lamine Yamal as a baby back in December 2007, from Spanish newspaper <a href="https://x.com/sport?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@sport</a>.
It was a photoshoot organised for a charity calendar. <a href="https://t.co/C7jCKbYnp7">pic.twitter.com/C7jCKbYnp7</a>
— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) <a href="https://x.com/eurofootcom/status/1809215170155053300?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 5, 2024</a></blockquote>
In December of 2007, a charity raffle was created between Spanish local newspaper Diario Sport and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Winners of the raffle would earn a slot with a professional soccer player from FC Barcelona for a photo that would appear in a promotional calendar.
Yamal’s family won the raffle, and they opted to pair their infant son with a 20-year-old Messi — before the fame and illustrious career. The photoshoot also features images that include Yamal&#8217;s mother, all taken at Camp Nou, FC Barcelona’s stadium. The same stadium is now home to Yamal, who has been in the program since he was seven years old — and is the very stadium where Messi blossomed into one of the greatest players of all time.
Freelance photographer Joan Monfort was responsible for the now-viral photos. In 2024, he was interviewed by The Athletic when the photoshoot originally blew up, and he said that he was just as shocked as the rest of the world.
“It’s something incredible,” Monfort said in 2024. “Back then, nobody could imagine that this baby would be who he is now – and you could have not known that Messi would become who he became, either. We are talking about 2007. Messi was only beginning at [Barcelona] then. Destiny plays an important role in these things.”
The World Cup final was set after Spain took down France 2-0 in the first semifinal game, making Yamal undefeated against the French in his young career through three matches. Messi and Argentina had to work a little harder, scoring two goals in seven minutes to come back and beat England 2-1 late in the match.
Yamal and Messi will soon compete on the biggest stage in their sport, fulfilling a storybook face-off 19 years in the making.

MessiYamal

Viral Photo Sparks Full-Circle Moment Ahead Of Spain-Argentina Final

FIFA

United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) forward Folarin Balogun spoke out for the first time about the controversial red card he received during the 2026 World Cup and its subsequent suspension. 
Following the 4-1 loss to Belgium in the Round of 16, all Balogun had to say regarding the suspension of the match ban was that he “accepted the decision” when it was given and that he “also accepted the decision [he] could play” without going into further detail. 
On Tuesday, he appeared on morning talk shows to elaborate. 
“My initial reaction was, you know, I was happy to be back with the team. But when I kind of started to reflect, I knew it was going to cause a lot of controversy,” Balogun said in an interview with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyGhF5R7VzQ">CBS Mornings</a>. &#8220;I could almost see within my teammates a bit of nerves, because it’s something that’s so unique&#8230; I tried to just focus as best as I could, but it was difficult.”
The outside distractions were broadcast across television networks and social media platforms after President Donald Trump called FIFA President Gianni Infantino to say he disagreed with the call. Infantino decided to suspend the red card after review. Team USA’s forward added that the discussion from all sides affected him mentally.
“It didn’t help. As an athlete, you want to go into a game — it’s already difficult enough with everything that goes on — the pressure,” Balogun told the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vmTTz1iohc">Today Show</a>. “To have more pressure, not just internally, but from almost the whole footballing world. It was difficult.”
“I think it put a lot more pressure on us than we needed,” he said on CBS Mornings.
The red card reversal did not end up helping Team USA. They lost 4-1 to Belgium after an impressive tournament start. This led many Team USA fans to believe that the pressure was a factor in the disappointing loss. Balogun reassured fans that the headlines surrounding the debate disappeared at kickoff.
“It was a difficult game against Belgium, and that can kind of overshadow whether we were focused or not, but from me being inside the camp and inside the setup, I know we had full concentration going into the game,” Balogun said.
In the two interviews, the USMNT forward also spoke on his excitement about the future of soccer in America and why he chose to represent the United States, citing it as a “no-brainer” due to the “culture, passion, and ambition.&#8221;
Balogun mentioned he will be back in four years to represent America for the 2030 World Cup.

USA v Belgium: Round of 16 – FIFA World Cup 2026

Team USA World Cup Star Breaks Silence Over Red Card Controversy

Men's soccer

united states

Adding insult to injury after an embarrassing exit from the World Cup this week, the United States Men’s National Team will be forced to share half of the earnings from their run with their counterparts on the Women’s National Team.
The men’s team secured $16 million in prize money from FIFA after their run to the World Cup’s round of 16. Despite not playing a single minute of soccer, members of the women’s team will <a href="https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49301582/us-men-women-get-equal-split-16m-world-cup-prize">take home</a> just as much money as the men’s team thanks to an “equal pay” agreement put in place by U.S. Soccer back in 2022. 
After U.S. Soccer takes 20% of the prize money, the rest will be distributed evenly between the 26 members on each of the rosters of the men’s and the women’s teams, meaning each player will be paid about $246,000. The money won’t be paid out to the women’s team until they qualify for the 2027 Women’s World Cup. 
“So you&#8217;re telling me the men go out and earn while the women stay at home,” Daily Wire host Ben Shapiro said in reaction to the news. 
The “equal pay” agreement was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/this-is-a-huge-win-megan-rapinoe-brags-after-u-s-womens-soccer-team-settles-pay-discrimination-lawsuit-for-24-million">put in place</a> in 2022 after years of complaints by the women’s soccer team, which became known for antics including refusal to respect the National Anthem and stunts targeting President Donald Trump. 
That agreement came after a lawsuit from players on the women&#8217;s team alleging pay discrimination by the U.S. Soccer Federation. To settle the suit, U.S. Soccer agreed that prize money from the World Cup would be divided evenly among players on both rosters. 
Historically, the men’s World Cup competition has generated billions of dollars more in revenue than the women’s World Cup. The 2026 World Cup is expected to bring in over $13 billion in revenue, while the last women’s World Cup in 2023 generated roughly $580 million. 
Though the Women’s National Team has had more relative on-the-field success than the men’s team, its on- and off-the-field antics have brought criticism. Several members of the U.S. women’s national soccer team knelt during the national anthem at several matches in 2020 and early 2021, while longtime team captain Megan Rapinoe had previously done so while representing the U.S. in the 2016 Olympics.
In 2019, Megan Rapinoe <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/megan-rapinoe-slammed-after-ignoring-national-amanda-prestigiacomo">described</a> herself as a “walking protest when it comes to the Trump administration.”
“So it’s kind of a good ‘F you’ to any sort of inequality or bad sentiments that the [Trump] administration might have towards people who don’t look exactly like him,” she said in one interview.

Team USA Forced To Share Half Of World Cup Prize Money With Women’s Team

Women's Soccer

The Argentine Football Association (AFA) is being investigated by the FBI for its alleged involvement in money laundering and fraud in the United States of over $300 million, The Miami Herald <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article316433770.html">reported</a> Wednesday.
The FBI and United States federal prosecutors are reportedly looking into the involvement of the reigning World Cup champions in hundreds of millions of dollars flowing through the American financial system and if any violated the law. The probe was first reported by <a href="https://www.lanacion.com.ar/politica/agentes-del-fbi-y-fiscales-federales-toman-testimonios-para-investigar-operaciones-financieras-de-la-nid06072026/">Argentine newspaper La Nación</a>, which stated that investigators are examining commercial and financial agreements tied to the football association’s operations in America.
The FBI declined to comment.
Investigators are focusing on the Miami-based company TourProdEnter LLC, which was created in 2021, according to La Nación. TourProdEnter allegedly acted as a collection agency for the AFA&#8217;s commercial contracts. Some of the sponsorship payments came from Adidas and Warner.
La Nación reported that TourProdEnter LLC moved $260 million among Citibank, Synovus, Bank of America, JPMorgan, and PNC Bank. An additional $57 million was transferred without a &#8220;clear purpose.&#8221;
No charges have been made yet, but La Nación is reporting that federal investigators have begun taking testimonies and gathering financial records.
This is not the first time AFA president Claudio Tapia has faced an investigation in his time in leadership. In December 2025, Argentine authorities raided the AFA headquarters and several soccer clubs as a part of another investigation into potential tax evasion and money laundering beginning in 2024. 
Three months later, Tapia was <a href="https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/sports/afa-chief-tapia-and-top-officials-formally-charged-in-tax-evasion-case.phtml">charged</a> with tax evasion and the misappropriation of social security funds. The president was punished with a travel ban and a court-ordered asset freeze.
Tapia was elected in 2017 and has led the country’s football organization throughout its recent success, including the back-to-back Copa América tournament wins in 2021 and 2024, as well as the 2022 World Cup win.
The investigation comes at the beginning of the 2026 World Cup quarterfinals, where soccer star Lionel Messi and Argentina are looking to win back-to-back World Cups and become the first country to do so since Brazil in 1958 and 1962. The off-the-field allegations are not expected to affect the country’s run at the title. 
At the time of publication, neither the AFA nor Tapia has commented on the ongoing investigation.

Argentina Press Conference & Training Session

FBI Probes Soccer Powerhouse During World Cup Run

argentina

An Uzbek truck driver who couldn&#8217;t speak English allegedly killed a star college soccer goalie over the weekend after the Biden administration let him into the country, according to Fox News.
Bekhzod Asrarov, 42, is accused of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ice-zeroes-in-on-illegal-immigrant-trucker-accused-of-killing-state-trooper?author=Jennie+Taer&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=ICE+Zeroes+In+On+Illegal+Immigrant+Trucker+Accused+Of+Killing+State+Trooper">ramming his truck</a> into the back of University of Massachusetts Lowell men&#8217;s soccer goalie Tobias Christopher Forsythe&#8217;s vehicle on Interstate 71 in Madison County, Ohio, on July 5. Asrarov came to the United States via the diversity visa lottery program in 2024 before obtaining an Ohio commercial driver&#8217;s license, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/diversity-lottery-admitted-truck-driver-allegedly-kills-umass-soccer-star-spoke-no-english" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
He is charged with tampering with evidence after he &#8220;ripped out his dash cam and hid it in his pocket,&#8221; Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said, adding that the trucker &#8220;failed his English language proficiency test&#8221; and that &#8220;state troopers had to use Google Translate to talk to him.&#8221;
Forsythe, 21, an economics major, played for Ashland University and Shawnee State University, where he started all 17 games during the 2025 season, before joining the UMass Lowell team in 2026.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Tobias &#8220;Toby&#8221; Forsythe was just 21, a star goalie for the UMass Lowell soccer team with his whole life ahead of him. On Sunday, his life was stolen.
A massive semi-truck driven by Bekhzod Asrarov rammed the back of Toby’s car on I-71 in Madison County, Ohio, killing him… <a href="https://t.co/diNqfujrRc">pic.twitter.com/diNqfujrRc</a>
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) <a href="https://x.com/SecDuffy/status/2074573888256647248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 7, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;We cannot let truckers like Asrarov, who can&#8217;t read our road signs or speak to law enforcement, drive 80,000-pound rigs on America’s highways,&#8221; Duffy said on X Tuesday.
&#8220;I am praying for Toby&#8217;s family and loved ones after this horrible loss. We will never stop fighting to keep these dangerous truck drivers OFF THE ROAD so no other parents have to endure this unimaginable grief,&#8221; Duffy added.
The Department of Homeland Security didn&#8217;t respond to a request for comment.
Kyle Zenoni, head coach of the UMass Lowell men&#8217;s soccer program, <a href="https://goriverhawks.com/news/2026/7/6/mens-soccer-umass-lowell-mourns-the-passing-of-toby-forsythe.aspx#:~:text=%22Today%2C%20our%20River%20Hawk%20team,the%20definition%20of%20hard%20work." target="_blank" rel="noopener">described</a> Forsythe as the ideal athlete and an &#8220;even better person.&#8221;
&#8220;He was humble, honest, selfless, and the definition of hard work,&#8221; Zenoni said.
&#8220;Every single day, he showed up ready to compete, improve, and do whatever was asked of him. He never looked for shortcuts and never expected anything to be given to him — he simply wanted the opportunity to earn it,&#8221; Zenoni added.
In response to a recent string of crashes involving illegal immigrant truckers, the Trump administration has pushed to enforce English-language requirements for truckers and has threatened to withhold federal funding from states issuing licenses to illegal immigrants.
The latest such collision involved a Haitian semi-truck driver who allegedly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ice-zeroes-in-on-illegal-immigrant-trucker-accused-of-killing-state-trooper">killed</a> a Pennsylvania State Trooper in a devastating crash. The Biden administration allowed the foreign trucker, who obtained a Massachusetts commercial driver&#8217;s license, into the country through its signature humanitarian parole program.

Untitled design – 2026-07-08T085130.989

Foreign Trucker Who Couldn’t Speak English Accused Of Killing College Soccer Star

Car Crash

immigration

Truckers

This is republished with permission from the author. The original, from <a href="https://www.houseofstrauss.com/">House of Strauss</a>, can be found <a href="https://www.houseofstrauss.com/p/why-we-still-suck-at-soccer-and-always">here</a>.
***
Belgium has about 12 million people and the United States has 350 million. This shouldn’t be a fair fight and it wasn’t: The Red Devils slaughtered the United States men’s national soccer team (again), doing the Trump dance to mock our impotent side on their home field. In gaining <a href="https://www.houseofstrauss.com/p/the-trump-balogun-controversy-exposed">Balogun for Monday’s match</a>, the USA lost what could have been a failure-obscuring excuse.
So why are we back here, <a href="https://x.com/chuckfbass/status/2074313496506872266?s=46&amp;t=oGFkfjOaJhGL-HV3dqLoGQ">as we always are</a>? I wrote that soccer has <a href="https://www.houseofstrauss.com/p/soccer-has-finally-actually-arrived">arrived in the United States</a>. While that may be so, the United States has not arrived at soccer.
The classic explanations don’t stand up to scrutiny as catch-alls either. You hear <a href="https://x.com/stoolpresidente/status/2074303534472847367">the problem is that our best athletes play other sports</a>. That’s part of the issue, sure, but I also reject this as the skeleton key. We’ve <a href="https://sfia.medium.com/soccer-participation-on-the-rise-in-the-united-states-212d89795cb5">got more people playing soccer</a> than Belgium has total population. By some measures, we’ve got <a href="https://www.socceriqinstitute.com/post/the-rise-of-soccer-in-america-as-we-approach-the-2026-fifa-world-cup">three times</a> as many children playing soccer as Belgium has children in total. The U.S. should be able to field competitive teams despite losing athletes to football and basketball.
You hear we lack street ball culture, so our hard knocks kids grow up with hoop dreams rather than ambitions for the pitch. I believe that’s an outdated explanation, for reasons I’ll get into.
And, after looking into the matter, I’ve got some bad news. The reason we now can’t compete has evolved. Even if you magically made the sport 10x more popular here among the youth, we’d have the same obstacle. In this country, it’s the generation gap in soccer avidity that’s killed us and continues to kill us.
America has the kids to compete on a world stage. We just happen to lack the adults. Put another way, though “soccer mom” became this omnipresent meme of the 1990s, the reason we struggle is our relative dearth of soccer dads. And I don’t just mean actual, literal, biological fathers, though yes also them. I’m talking about dudes who grew up playing, know the game well, and pass on advice to the next generation.
Obviously more such Americans exist in 2026 than when I grew up, but we are perpetually going to suffer this generational lag, even as it lessens. Every year, an increasing amount of young Americans might become soccer converts, but every year, America will still maintain a gap between adult and youth soccer avidity. And the issue for us is, in Europe, this generational chasm doesn’t exist. Grownups and kids are united in their fixation on the game.
There’s a lot of romance about how both basketball and soccer are incubated in the streets, where children learn the game’s poetry prior to sentience. I’m not saying this stopped happening, but these sports have gone through an optimization process at the youth levels. As you probably know, so many rising pro basketball players are upper class now, and/or <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/06/30/heir-ball-how-the-cost-of-youth-sports-is-changing-the-nba">the children of professional basketball players</a>. There’s this trope that if America’s “urban” population fell in love with soccer, we’d suddenly dominate. But given the new path dependencies, it’s just not so simple.
It’s been argued that Brazilian soccer dominance was based on “street-style creativity,” an advantage that’s dissipated over the last couple decades. Pre-Internet, sports innovation and progress used to be more organic. I’m reminded of Isiah Thomas just <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOZHycUOJrw">developing his own basketball drills</a> and moves as a kid growing up in Chicago.
Greatness isn’t found on the pickup courts now, like some future supermodel getting discovered at the grocery store. It’s cultivated, early on, by obsessive adults. The compounding soccer advantage in Europe over America is more obsessive adults per capita who then funnel kids into feeder systems that involve professionally obsessive adults.
This is what we can’t replicate. When a lack of “football culture,” is bemoaned, people are often referring to a sport’s overall popularity, sometimes with a focus on what kids are into. But a lack of culture can refer to an absence of transferred generational knowledge. This is a sad story for America, but also one I like, in a way. I’m heartened by the idea of an older generation helping the next succeed.
In that vein, let’s look at the background of a few international football superstars in this World Cup.
Erling Haaland: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alf-Inge_Haaland">Father</a> Alf-Inge was a famous EPL pro.
Kylian Mbappé: Father Wilfrid is a former regional footballer who coached at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AS_Bondy">AS Bondy football club</a> for 20 years.
Jude Bellingham: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Bellingham">Father Mark</a> was a “prolific” non-league player, who scored over 700 goals in his career.
Michael Olise: Here, the pattern is broken because Michael’s father, Vincent, wasn’t a former footballer. Instead, he was an <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Cricket/comments/1uo1djl/french_football_star_michael_olises_father/">international cricket player</a> who was obsessed with making his kids great at soccer.
Lamine Yamal: Lamine breaks the pattern because his dad has no sports connection beyond vigorously supporting his son’s journey, but that’s where FC Barcelona steps in. The legendary Spanish club signed the 18-year-old phenom back in 2014. Yamal has humble origins, but I believe he actually illustrates the fallacy in thinking that a newly prevalent “<a href="https://x.com/shipwreckedcrew/status/2074367581532954775?s=46">pickup soccer</a>” culture will solve our American problem. Barca discovered Yamal when he was playing for a club at age six. Lamine Yamal didn’t grow up freely playing the game on the streets; he played soccer, organized by adults, well before he grew up.
Speaking of Barcelona and Yamal, one narrative following this World Cup loss is that <a href="https://x.com/ClayTravis/status/2074332074077479043">the game is too expensive for American parents</a>. In Europe, teams bear much of the cost for development, whereas in America, parents spend many thousands on youth sports. Incentives are aligned to help talent over there. To <a href="https://x.com/aakashgupta/status/2074387188079595648">quote one commentator</a>:
<blockquote>
In Germany, a talented 14-year-old earns his club money. In America, his parents pay the club $15,000 a year.
</blockquote>
This is certainly an element that helps explain the soccer gap. I’d also add that the Euro clubs are pretty ruthless in the pursuit of elevating talent. Europe might have a rep for going on “holiday” rather than grinding in the capitalist rat race, but boy are they bottom-line Darwinian about the product they care about most. Star England striker Harry Kane <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/tottenham-striker-harry-kane-reveals-why-arsenal-gave-up-on-him-a3114856.html">was cut from Arsenal</a> at age 9 for being fat. In the U.S., clubs are incentivized to keep lagging kids involved so long as their parents have cash.
The counterargument to the USA “pay for play” problem comes from <a href="https://x.com/darrenrovell/status/2074482629454217686?s=46&amp;t=oGFkfjOaJhGL-HV3dqLoGQ">Darren Rovell</a> and it’s a good point:
<blockquote>
The game that we are actually world-class at — ice hockey — at top youth levels costs double soccer.
</blockquote>
That’s true, but Americans are also, relative to nations other than Canada, hockey-knowledgeable. As in: We have the dads.
“I did okay”
I’ve arrived at my theories on this subject through the most scientific of processes: Watching YouTube clips of famous footballers discussing their journeys. The most poignant example is Clint Dempsey, perhaps our best ever player (especially considering Christian Pulisic’s Monday flameout), emotionally reflecting on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/S9d2TJXYZ3c">how he could have been better</a>.
Dempsey grew up in Nacogdoches, Texas, and wonders what might have been if he were somewhere else. In conversation with Thierry Henry, Dempsey says:
<blockquote>
I wish I’d a’ had someone like you, a coach, who could have helped me more. I had great coaches, they helped, but like, a coach that you had, something like that. What could I really done. I did okay. You know what I’m saying? But not like..(gestures to Henry).
</blockquote>
There’s something just so painfully wistful about Dempsey’s “I did okay.” Later he says, “I’m at peace,” but you can sense he isn’t. He defied the odds, but it clearly eats at Clint that knowledge, as opposed to talent, held him back. But what could Dempsey do? There was an absence of soccer-knowledgeable adults in rural Texas.
Let’s contrast his journey with that of his French conversation partner. Thierry Henry likes to tell a story about the coach who unlocked his potential. Not only was Henry’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thierry_Henry">father an obsessive soccer dad</a>, but Thierry acquired the right training at the right time. At INF Clairefontaine academy, Henry was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9UqGt8pLbX4">commanded to not use his speed for scoring</a>, even though it was his dominant attribute. That bit of guidance set him on the path to all-time greatness.
In summary, Europe dominates us at this sport with two large advantages: A culture of adult-led cultivation, feeding into academies that benefit the world’s best teams. I just don’t understand how we can, as presently constructed, disrupt Europe’s edge over us. Even as more of us become soccer-heads, they’re compounding the advantage with a newer superior generation building on the older superior generation.
We have the money. We have the athletes. We now have the interest. What we lack is generational connective tissue, and I have no clue how we’d ever acquire it on a level that allows us to beat our Euro foes. I should believe in this nation. We’ve accomplished a great many things and continue to. But even though we put a man on the moon, I’m losing faith that we can ever put the ball in the net.
I’ll close with this. There’s a massive, fancy soccer hub near where I live, called the <a href="https://copastc.com/media-kit/">COPA Soccer Training Center</a>. Parents of local soccer prodigies know it well. It’s a “90,000–117,000 sq ft facility with multiple training zones,” and I was blown away by the place when visiting for a kids’ birthday party. This expansive, modern interior is a testament to American wealth and recent will to finally succeed on the world stage. Plenty of kids use the training center. That part is taken care of. But does it have the adults?
Related: Would it occur to Europeans that they should make money off such a place as weekend kids’ birthday party setting? I’d assume the Euros would view this side hustle like generations prior would have regarded playing soccer in a church.
***
Ethan Strauss is the creator of the Substack House of Strauss. He is a former NBA PR gopher, basketblogger, and NBA beat writer.

Father and son train and play in a soccer field.

America Doesn’t Need Soccer Moms, We Need Soccer Dads

youth sports

American soccer star Folarin Balogun has been cleared once again to suit up on Monday night against Belgium as the European country&#8217;s effort to keep the U.S. striker sidelined was shot down by the FIFA Appeal Committee.
The FIFA committee ruled that Belgium&#8217;s appeal of the decision to overturn Balogun&#8217;s one-game suspension was &#8220;inadmissible&#8221; since Belgium was &#8220;not a party to the proceedings and, as such, has no standing to appeal the decision,&#8221; The Athletic <a href="https://x.com/AdamCrafton_/status/2074172435750850880">reported</a>. Belgium said it could still pursue other actions to contest Balogun&#8217;s eligibility for Monday night&#8217;s round of 16 showdown, but for now, the Belgians will have to accept the reality they&#8217;ll likely be facing America at full strength.
“The [Royal Belgian Football Association] has informed the United States Soccer Federation that it contests the eligibility of the player, should the player be listed on the referee’s team sheet. This leaves all further actions open,&#8221; Belgium&#8217;s soccer bosses wrote after the appeal was rejected.
The Royal Belgian Football Association also complained that it &#8220;has still not received any grounds for&#8221; FIFA&#8217;s decision to overturn Balogun&#8217;s one-game suspension. The U.S. star was given a red card during Team USA&#8217;s round of 32 game against Bosnia and Herzegovina when he collided with an opposing defender and his cleats caught the back of the defender&#8217;s ankle. The referee did not dish out the red card until after he used replay assist to revisit the incident. With a red card, Balogun was also ruled ineligible to play in America&#8217;s round of 16 game, according to FIFA rules.
Shortly after a phone call between President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, however, FIFA overturned Balogun&#8217;s suspension on Sunday, sparking outrage among European soccer elites.
“I didn’t tell [Infantino] what to do,” Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-describes-his-call-with-fifa-president-before-last-minute-decision-on-u-s-suspension?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Trump+Describes+His+Call+With+FIFA+President+Before+Last-Minute+Decision+On+U.S.+Suspension">said</a> on Monday. “I can’t tell him what to do, and I don’t believe he made the decision. I believe it was a committee that made the decision, and they made the right decision.”
The referee who gave Balogun a red card is suspected of using replay assist improperly and slowing down the speed of the video that showed the collision between the U.S. star and the player from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The White House put together a team of elite lawyers to look into challenging soccer officials’ use of replay review, OutKick founder Clay Travis reported.
European soccer leaders blasted FIFA after the suspension reversal, claiming the decision hurts the &#8220;integrity&#8221; of the game.
“When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined,&#8221; the Union of European Football Associations wrote. &#8220;Equally, such decision creates a precedent in the ongoing tournament, where similar situations will now require an equal treatment, to the detriment of the competition.”
The United States takes on Belgium at 8:00 p.m. ET on Monday.

USA v Bosnia and Herzegovina: Round Of 32 – FIFA World Cup 2026

Belgium Shot Down On Appeal To Keep U.S. Star Sidelined As Europe’s Tantrum Falls Short

Belgium

U.S.

President Donald Trump said on Monday that he &#8220;relayed&#8221; to FIFA President Gianni Infantino that there would have been &#8220;a big stain&#8221; on the World Cup if U.S. soccer star Folarin Balogun was forced to sit out of the team&#8217;s game on Monday.
During a gaggle with reporters in the Oval Office, Trump went into more detail about his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-thanks-fifa-for-reversing-great-injustice-as-european-rivals-rage-at-world-cup?author=Virginia+Kruta&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=5&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Trump+Thanks+FIFA+For+Reversing+%E2%80%99Great+Injustice%E2%80%99+As+European+Rivals+Rage+At+World+Cup">phone call</a> with Infantino, which took place just before FIFA announced that Balogun could suit up for Team USA&#8217;s Monday night round of 16 match against Belgium.
&#8220;I didn&#8217;t tell [Infantino] what to do,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;I can&#8217;t tell him what to do, and I don&#8217;t believe he made the decision. I believe it was a committee that made the decision, and they made the right decision.&#8221;
&#8220;I didn&#8217;t think it was a foul. I thought it was two great athletes that crashed into each other and got entangled,&#8221; Trump said of the on-field incident last week that resulted in Balogun&#8217;s red card, which was only handed out after a video review.
Balogun was handed a red card and one-game suspension after he made contact with a defender for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the U.S. star’s cleat scraped the back of the defender’s ankle. &#8220;That was not a guy punching somebody in the face or anything that would be different,&#8221; Trump added.
&#8220;I think the referee&#8217;s call was horrible,&#8221; the president continued. &#8220;Nobody talks about that. They talk about the red card like it&#8217;s fine. The referee&#8217;s decision to red card — I didn&#8217;t know what the hell a red card was — when I found out I said you&#8217;ve gotta be kidding. &#8230; Okay, your best player is not going to play next game. I said, wow that&#8217;s a lot of power. That&#8217;s terrible.&#8221;
FIFA&#8217;s decision on Sunday to overturn Balogun&#8217;s suspension caused outrage among European soccer elites, including from Belgium. The country&#8217;s soccer officials said they were &#8220;astonished&#8221; by the reversal, and Belgium&#8217;s coach Rudi Garcia blasted FIFA. Belgium also <a href="https://x.com/BrentScher/status/2073898775257530664" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> “lawyered up” to fight FIFA’s decision to overturn Balogun’s suspension, and on Monday, Belgium was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/seeing-red-belgium-granted-appeal-after-europe-cries-over-american-suspension-reversal">granted</a> the right to appeal FIFA&#8217;s decision to allow the U.S. star to play.
A decision on Belgium’s appeal could be handed down before the game between the United States and Belgium starts at 8:00 p.m. ET, but Belgium was not guaranteed that a ruling would come from FIFA before the game, The Athletic reported.
FIFA reversed Balogun’s suspension after the White House put together a team of elite lawyers to look into challenging soccer officials’ use of replay review in determining Balogun’s red card last week, Outkick founder Clay Travis reported.
The United States is looking for just its second berth into the World Cup quarterfinals in its history with a win against Belgium.

Donald Trump/U.S. Soccer

Trump Describes His Call With FIFA President Before Last-Minute Decision On U.S. Suspension

donald trump

The Belgian national team on Monday morning was granted the right to appeal FIFA&#8217;s last-minute decision to reverse a one-game suspension that had been imposed on U.S. soccer star Folarin Balogun after he received a phantom red card in America&#8217;s round of 32 victory.
FIFA&#8217;s decision to overturn Balogun&#8217;s suspension on Sunday, which came after a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-thanks-fifa-for-reversing-great-injustice-as-european-rivals-rage-at-world-cup?author=Virginia+Kruta&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Trump+Thanks+FIFA+For+Reversing+%E2%80%99Great+Injustice%E2%80%99+As+European+Rivals+Rage+At+World+Cup">phone call</a> between President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, outraged the soccer elites of Belgium and other European nations. Belgium&#8217;s soccer officials <a href="https://www.foxsports.com/stories/soccer/belgium-astonished-folarin-balogun-ruling-investigating-potential-options">said</a> they were &#8220;astonished.&#8221; Belgium soccer coach Rudi Garcia also took a shot at FIFA after the reversal.
&#8220;I didn&#8217;t know that in the FIFA offices the 5th of July corresponded to the 1st of April &#8230; it was a discovery for me,&#8221; Garcia <a href="https://www.foxsports.com/watch-vertical/fmc-8t88x881kprva0ge">said</a>.
Belgium also <a href="https://x.com/BrentScher/status/2073898775257530664">reportedly</a> &#8220;lawyered up&#8221; to fight FIFA&#8217;s decision to overturn Balogun&#8217;s suspension. After the outrage, Belgium was granted an appeal, which will ultimately leave it up to one member of the FIFA appeals committee to decide whether Balogun&#8217;s suspension should be upheld. A decision on Belgium&#8217;s appeal could be handed down before the game between the United States and Belgium starts at 7:00 p.m. ET, but Belgium was not guaranteed that a ruling would come from FIFA before the game, The Athletic reported.
The appeals committee member selected to hear the appeal is not a member of the European soccer association, UEFA, or of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football to ensure the appeals process is unbiased. The UEFA released a statement Monday morning, siding with Belgium, and blasting FIFA&#8217;s decision to allow Balogun to play Monday night.
&#8220;Yesterday’s decision to suspend for a probationary period of a year the implementation of the one-match automatic suspension following the red card issued to the player Folarin Balogun crossed a red line,&#8221; UEFA wrote in a statement, adding, &#8220;When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined. Equally, such decision creates a precedent in the ongoing tournament, where similar situations will now require an equal treatment, to the detriment of the competition.&#8221;
Norway&#8217;s coach Ståle Solbakken, whose team advanced to the quarterfinals on Sunday, also <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/07/05/sports/norway-coach-blasts-fifas-really-bad-folarin-balogun-decision/">ripped</a> FIFA over the decision.
“I think it is not a great conclusion. [Balogun] got a red card and the VAR concluded that it was a red card. He was sent off. That means you are suspended for one game,&#8221; Solbakken said. “I think what is really bad about that situation is it will be [hanging] over the United States now. Because if they beat Belgium, it will always have that extra thing about it. Maybe he scores a goal, maybe he plays a good game, and the Belgians will be furious.”
FIFA reversed Balogun&#8217;s suspension after the White House put together a team of elite lawyers to challenge soccer officials&#8217; use of replay review in determining Balogun&#8217;s red card last week, Outkick founder Clay Travis reported. Balogun was given a red card for his contact with a defender for Bosnia and Herzegovina after the referee used video replay to determine that the U.S. star&#8217;s cleat scraped the back of the defender&#8217;s ankle.
Trump also called FIFA&#8217;s president to better understand why a red card had been issued, but Trump did not push FIFA to overturn the suspension, according to Axios. During that phone call, Infantino informed Trump that a review of the red card had already begun.
America&#8217;s star player, who leads the team with three goals so far in the tournament, is preparing to play Monday night as the United States looks to advance to its second-ever quarterfinals. Team USA was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-team-lit-after-red-card-reversal-news-thought-it-was-ai-at-first?author=Virginia+Kruta&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=U.S.+Team+%E2%80%98Lit%E2%80%99+After+Red+Card+Reversal+News%3A+%E2%80%98Thought+It+Was+AI+At+First%E2%80%99">ecstatic</a> on Sunday after hearing the news that Balogun could play.

Seeing Red: Belgium Granted Appeal After Europe Cries Over American Suspension Reversal

europe

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