It’s estimated that somewhere between 500 and 1,000 travel diaries — possibly the most popular literary genre of the 19th century — were written by foreign visitors to the United States in our first century of existence. The Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America,” written after his visit to these shores in the 1830s, was and remains the most popular. Hundreds of others, from Charles Dickens’ “American Notes for General Circulation” to Yukichi Fukuzawa&#8217;s autobiography, are still in print.
America’s distinctiveness on the world stage drew observers from all over the world seeking to understand what this “new order” meant. Not all the reviews were positive. More aristocratic tourists criticized the directness of our manners, while others were bewildered at the emotionalism of some church services. Most all hated the American man’s addiction to tobacco-chewing — and spitting.
I must confess to reading over 50 of these books, which is probably why I’m reminded of them as a witness to soccer fans from around the world coming to America for this summer’s World Cup. In ways we should be thankful, we don’t have to wait many months or a year to read a book about their experience. With a quick scroll through social media, one can see video after video from Germans, Ghanaians, Japanese, and Norwegian soccer fans as they express their overwhelming shock at life in these United States.
Videos are plentiful of Dutch fans eating barbecue and Japanese fans dumbstruck while walking through Bass Pro Shops. Scottish fans in Boston were stunned by how frequently Americans would buy them drinks. But it’s the interviews with fans who are asked about their views of Americans that are the most revealing.
Norwegian soccer star Erling Haaland went to an NHL game where he witnessed the Americans’ full-throated singing of our National Anthem. He said, “They have so much pride for the country. They love their country so much. It’s everything about it. The national anthem was incredible. Amazing. I had goosebumps all over.”
Nineteenth-century visitors could be forgiven for their amazement at what they saw in America. There was literally nothing like us in world history — a thriving, if contentious, multiethnic republic. What’s the excuse now, two centuries later?
The answer, of course, is found in what these fans have been told about America (and Americans) by their media, governments, and schools. Many of those criticisms, from our supposed xenophobia to our greedy self-centeredness, appear to be collapsing upon contact with reality.
In this there’s an obvious reconnection with many of the themes you’d see from the travelogue writers in the 1800s:
<ul class="ul1">
<li class="li2">Americans are good-natured: As the Englishman, Charles Latrobe, wrote when visiting in 1832, “The people of the United States may truly be said to be a gregarious race. The truth of this is exemplified in their summer enjoyments, when, in spite of the inconveniences entailed upon collecting together in large numbers, during a season when the heat is truly oppressive.”</li>
<li class="li2">Americans love big things: The Parisian clergyman, Jean Grandpierre, observed during his visit in the early 1850s, “In America everything takes gigantic proportions.”</li>
<li class="li2">Americans are innovators: “The great glory of the Americans is in their wondrous contrivances, in their patent remedies for the usually troublous operations of life,” said Englishman Anthony Trollope, in 1861.</li>
<li class="li2">Americans are infectiously energetic: During her visit in 1849, the Swedish novelist Fredrika Bremer described, “Nothing strikes me so much as the youthfulness of this people — I might almost say childish fervor and love of adventure. They hesitate at nothing, and regard nothing as impossible.”</li>
<li class="li2">Americans love their country: The British medical missionary, Isabella Lucy Bird, described the typical American man she met in Chicago in 1854: “their very appearance says to you, ‘Stranger, I belong to the greatest, most enlightened and most progressive nation on earth. I may be the President or a millionaire next.”</li>
</ul>
I could go on, but you get the picture. The difference now is that these past visitors are stunned by what they’re learning about America for the first time. Today’s visitors are having to unlearn what they’ve been told.
Of course, it’s also true that we as Americans have also been surprised by the overwhelmingly positive reactions by these World Cup fans, and this speaks to what we’ve told ourselves (or been taught) about this country. The <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/711938/american-pride-falls-year-record-low.aspx">decline in American patriotism</a> is evidenced in several recent national surveys.
It’s logical to wonder how these travelers will impact views of America upon their return to their native lands. For our part, on this 250th year, we’d do well to consider the wonder these fans continue to express, and be grateful for the place we call home.
***
Pete Peterson is dean of Pepperdine University School of Public Policy and its Braun Family Dean’s Chair.

Powerful Marathon Finish Line Celebration Moment

Two Centuries After Tocqueville, America Still Surprises Its Visitors

Alexis de Tocqueville

America 250

American History

Charles Dickens

DW Opinion

erling haaland

Fukazawa Yukichi

World Cup

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) suggested Tuesday that racism may help explain why many soccer fans rooted against Argentina during this year&#8217;s World Cup, drawing a puzzled response from a Yale history professor testifying before Congress.  
During a House <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=961Mclohmi8&amp;t=6901s">hearing</a> titled &#8220;Rewriting American History: Examining the Smithsonian&#8217;s Efforts to Reshape the Past,&#8221; Crockett asked Yale historian David Blight why so many people rooted for Spain over Argentina in the tournament&#8217;s final.
Noting that the World Cup captured the “imagination of the entire world” where everyone saw people of color playing for these teams, Crockett pointed to the championship match between Argentina and Spain. 
“And it seemed like the vast majority of the world was rooting for Argentina … or, actually, against Argentina, right?” Crockett said. “And why was that? Just give me an explanation if you can guess.” 
“Spain had the best team,” Blight responded with a smile while shaking his head. “Maybe that’s why they were rooting for them.&#8221;
After laughing at Blight&#8217;s response, Crockett suggested there was also “a racist history that exists as it relates to Argentina.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) implies it was racist to root for Argentina vs Spain: <a href="https://t.co/NoJqioHhDq">pic.twitter.com/NoJqioHhDq</a>
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) <a href="https://x.com/EndWokeness/status/2079599936660811930?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 21, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Earlier in the hearing, Crockett welcomed attendees to what she called “Republicans&#8217; white-pride rally disguised as a congressional hearing,” according to <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/jasmine-crockett-world-cup-argentina">Blaze Media</a>. 
She followed with a series of remarks about America’s history being rooted in racism and white supremacy. 
“It’s a fact that there is a violent, exclusionary, discriminatory, sexist, and racist part of American history where our indigenous populations were forcibly displaced from their land,” Crockett said.
Crockett also cited the Biden administration&#8217;s 2021 claim that the greatest &#8220;domestic threat to the United States is violent white supremacists.&#8221; She accused Republicans of pushing to ban books and &#8220;attack museums.&#8221;
Crockett also claimed that &#8220;white men,&#8221; whom she accused of having a &#8220;fetish&#8221; and &#8220;fragile egos,&#8221; are attempting to feel &#8220;oppressed&#8221; over changes at the Smithsonian Museum, according to Blaze Media.

Bill Gates Appears For Closed Interview With House Oversight Committee Over Epstein Connections

Jasmine Crockett’s Latest Racist Target? The World Cup

Congress

Jasmine Crockett

Politics

Racism

Smithsonian Museum

White Supremacy

The Justice Department <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-seizes-more-1000-internet-domains-used-illegally-stream-world-cup-2026-matches">announced</a> Monday that it seized more than 1,000 internet domains used to illegally stream matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The crackdown, dubbed &#8220;Operation Offsides,&#8221; ran throughout the month-long tournament and resulted in the seizure of more than 1,000 websites and the blocking of nearly 2,000 domains, according to the DOJ. Investigators said they received more than 3,000 leads. 
“The sustained effort to seize more than a thousand domains dedicated to illegally streaming the World Cup confirms the administration’s commitment to intellectual property rights and to the success of the 2026 FIFA World Cup,” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Criminal Division said in the release.
Homeland Security Investigations Deputy Executive Associate Director Matthew Millhollin warned that many illegal streaming sites also expose users to malware and payment theft. 
“Criminals operating these unauthorized platforms are already willing to break the law when they stream copyrighted World Cup games, they might also be planning to inject malware or steal your payment information,” Millhollin said. “Protect your online presence and enjoy the finals with official streaming partners.”
The DOJ said the seized domains were “illegally offering users copyright-protected content in the form of real-time streams”. FIFA, beIN Media Group, NBC Universal, the Motion Picture Association’s Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, Ultimate Fighting Championship, and Warner Brothers helped investigators identify the sites. The DOJ replaced and seized websites with a federal seizure notice. 
<div id="attachment_1139057" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1139057" class="size-medium wp-image-1139057" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/WebsiteSeizureGraphic-300x285.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="285" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/WebsiteSeizureGraphic-300x285.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/WebsiteSeizureGraphic.jpeg 400w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />U.S. Department of Justice</div>
The operation expanded on an enforcement action announced last month that resulted in the seizure of nearly 400 domains.
Separately, the DOJ said its International Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property program participated in &#8220;Operation Red Card,&#8221; an international effort targeting digital piracy and counterfeiting linked to the World Cup in Colombia.
&nbsp;

INDIA-FBL-WC-2026-TAXI

While The World Watched Soccer, The DOJ Was Building A Case

copyright

Crime

justice department

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

Soccer

Sports

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

Lionel Messi

He&#8217;s blowing stuff up. He&#8217;s shooting guns. And he&#8217;s doing it all with friendly southern folks he just met an hour ago.
His name is Freddy, and he&#8217;s back.
After two agonizing weeks of radio silence, the internet&#8217;s favorite German is <a href="https://x.com/FreddyLA7/status/2076724002031104233">back</a> on X, chronicling his trek across America, wandering through regions we rarely put on postcards, marveling at the small stuff most of us have stopped noticing entirely.
The reason for his absence: a mob of angry, almost certainly liberal, Reddit dwellers came for him with all the subtlety of a group chat spiraling at 2 a.m. He&#8217;s not really German, they insisted. Just a tourist milking the World Cup. An American plant. A CIA asset. A prop manufactured to make red, white, and blue look good.
What these people apparently cannot fathom is that a visitor might just love it here that much. Perhaps Freddy sees something the rest of us have gone blind to, grown numb to, or gotten too spoiled to appreciate.
Now that Freddy&#8217;s posting again, one thing has become undeniable: America needs a Freddy Protection Program. A formal mechanism to trade our America-hating, mask-hoarding DSA denizens for America-loving patriots from abroad. And the case for it writes itself.
First, Freddy values our First and Second Amendments properly. He&#8217;s lived out the First by refusing to kneel to the dementors, the joy-sucking ghouls of the online Left, and refusing to let them silence him. Instead, he keeps speaking his mind, because, in his words, &#8220;a small group of very loud people shouldn&#8217;t be able to ruin something that brought so many others joy.&#8221; Preach it, F-man. Wear that First Amendment out. And he’s getting a taste of the <a href="https://x.com/FreddyLA7/status/2077175183454970177">Second, too</a>. Somewhere in the <a href="https://x.com/FreddyLA7/status/2077110876117602687/video/1">middle-of-nowhere</a> beauty of rural Tennessee, he made fast friends with strangers who invited him along to shoot guns at random objects. The epitome of American greatness.
Freddy&#8217;s caption on his post documenting this moment perfectly captured the mood of our nation this month: &#8220;HOLY FCKING SHT FREEEEEDOMMMM!!!!🦅🦅🦅🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸.&#8221;
A man who loves the First and Second Amendments that much? Immediate green flag.
Second, he isn&#8217;t here for the welfare checks. He&#8217;s here to devour American culture whole. In the two cruel weeks we spent apart, Freddy went <a href="https://x.com/FreddyLA7/status/2076829404265599216">full American.</a> He swam in Pennsylvania&#8217;s lakes, watched grown men inhale pie for sport in Virginia, stood beneath fireworks blooming over the nation&#8217;s capital on the Fourth of July. He lounged on Delaware&#8217;s beaches, wandered the Outer Banks, played mini-golf in Myrtle Beach, and ate himself into a stupor on Bojangles, Sonic, and Taco Bell. <a href="https://x.com/greg_price11/status/2076496617243279527">Most</a> DSA activists, meanwhile, don&#8217;t leave the house. COVID is apparently still raging in their world, and letting sunlight even the slightest bit brown their skin remains a bridge too far. It only makes sense to send them all to Germany, where the sun makes far fewer appearances than it does here.
Third, and this is the part that matters most: he loves it here, and <a href="https://x.com/FreddyLA7/status/2077237149129122172">he wants to stay.</a> DSA demon dimwit dirtbags gather by the hundreds to plot America&#8217;s destruction, giddy with disdain for the place. Their members say the quiet part loud, openly <a href="https://x.com/canarymission/status/2073885328109085043/video/1">calling</a> to take our &#8220;Empire down from within.&#8221; They want to <a href="https://x.com/canarymission/status/2077050593806299584/video/1">scrap</a> our Constitution entirely and build themselves a Democratic Socialist Republic in its place. Presumably starting with the two amendments Freddy loves most. Some of them go further still, <a href="https://x.com/thestustustudio/status/2077208201372512376">insisting</a> every president since the founding has been &#8220;super evil.&#8221;
They. Hate. America.
Freddy doesn&#8217;t. Freddy loves it so much that he never wants to go home. And we should let him stay. The president ought to set up a Freddy Protection Program: let America-loving foreigners who show this country real gratitude take the place of the ungrateful socialists who&#8217;d rather burn it down. Because if the DSA dirtbags get to stick around, spreading their recycled, thoroughly unoriginal ideology unchecked, this country gets devoured from within faster than Joey Chestnut clears a hot dog. And I don&#8217;t say that as some prophetic genius. I say it because I&#8217;ve read the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/real-history-ep-6-communism?utm_campaign=realhistory&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=cms&amp;utm_content=banner_na_creative00166_na">history</a>. Russia tried it. The Soviet Union tried it. China tried it. Cuba tried it. Venezuela is still trying it, badly. Every single time, it failed, and it failed the people first. Best to nip the socialist bud before it ever blooms.
I see no downside here. The FPP creates patriots and casts out the pinkos.
This <a href="https://x.com/EndWokeness/status/2076495457887334754">whole room</a> can go. We&#8217;ll take Freddy instead.

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

FreddyLA7: An Immigration Plan We Can Believe In

FreddyLA7

Leftists

There’s no need to wait for the FIFA World Cup championship game on July 19; the United States of America is already the real winner, and it’s not even close.
As the 2026 host, visitors now understand why America’s people, culture, and economy make it the premier travel destination. The cartoonish “ugly American” stereotypes and tropes pushed by politicians and legacy media here and abroad have been tossed out the window of an F-150 truck and rendered roadkill.
Tourists from Europe, Asia, and the Middle East have been given a taste of our wide-open spaces, freedoms, and cultural norms; our multicultural cuisine and fast food; and our air conditioning. In return, they have given us a fresh appreciation for what we have too often taken for granted.
The host cities and arenas, like Atlanta and Boston, have received <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/video/us-card-spending-saw-universal-180000167.html">financial boosts</a>, but small-town America has received the biggest boon. When our guests rented SUVs and trucks to get from one host city to another, they discovered the heartland and found it heartwarming.
Some were fortunate to experience our America 250 Independence Day celebrations and learned about the depth and strength of our patriotism and love of country. One European tourist <a href="https://x.com/realAnn_29/status/2075594872401412470?s=20">said</a>, “It is crazy! The way you guys celebrate the 4th of July is insane. The patriotism is so insane good[…] You LOVE your country &#8230; People are genuinely happy, and you guys know how to celebrate this day so super well.”
This authentic image of America has spread globally thanks to tourists documenting their World Cup journeys online. TikTok, X, and Instagram have been <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/soccer/world-cup-tourists-social-media-viral-posts-about-america-rcna349508">filled with videos</a> of Brits, Scots, <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/06/12/lifestyle/german-world-cup-tourist-goes-viral-eating-his-way-across-america/">Germans</a>, Vikings, Argentinians, and many other foreigners singing <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/06/15/opinion/world-cup-tourists-see-the-real-america-and-theyre-in-love/">America’s praises</a> while having the time of their lives and bringing us along for the ride.
Both national and foreign media have had to catch up. Too often, they cover America in less-than-favorable ways, with <a href="https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/press/rep/releases/judiciary-witnesses-expose-manipulated-crime-data-anti-victim-judges-and-harmful-soft-on-crime-policies-in-democrat-run-cities">manipulated</a> <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dc-police-accused-manipulating-crime-stats-federal-probe-finds-thousands-misclassified-cases">crime reporting</a> to achieve a certain outcome, <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/splc-arraigned-on-superseding-charges-of-donor-fraud/ar-AA27qeyd">manufactured racism</a>, and any show of American pride being <a href="https://www.aol.com/8-reasons-why-people-other-135741075.html">couched as arrogance</a>.
An <a href="https://x.com/DrewPavlou/status/2072596071931420814?s=20">NBC News Boston</a> correspondent interviewed German tourist <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/german-world-cup-fan-breaks-down-in-tears-after-being-blown-away-by-kindness-of-americans/ar-AA27gkjP">Sebastian Krause</a> at the Germany vs. Paraguay match. Krause was moved to tears when he talked about America. “I fall in love with this country, and this was so emotional, I even cried in the stadium.”
Krause had been fed warnings of a dangerous and unfriendly country. But he told the correspondent that everyone has treated him with “kindness and respect,” and he has not felt unsafe.
Multiply Krause’s experience by thousands of organic and viral expressions on how friendly, helpful, and hospitable Americans really are, and you have the start of a cultural transformation that cannot be produced through summits.
Tourists have also <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/world-cup-fans-fall-love-american-culture-comfort-food-classics">deemed</a> our food and beverages to be <a href="https://x.com/Sassafrass_84/status/2072053404222767570?s=20">brilliant</a>. Free refills on water and coffee, Ranch dressing, Big Gulps, and a variety of snacks in different sizes that the European mind cannot comprehend. Capitalism, competition, and the freedom to innovate are the drivers behind this largesse.
The food that received the <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/fifa_world_cup/wh-shares-viral-world-cup-montage-of-europeans-falling-in-love-with-us-america-is-so-back/ar-AA26sNIJ">highest praise</a> wasn’t from some Food &amp; Wine-curated menu but from America’s <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/celebrity/articles/german-tourist-goes-viral-sampling-131618219.html">stick-to-your-ribs</a> and carb-laden staples: Waffle House, IHOP, Taco Bell, Chick-fil-A, In-N-Out, Whataburger, Sonic, and lots of fabulous Texas barbecue places.
We can’t forget the big box retailers such as Bass Pro Shop, Costco, Target, and <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/celebrity/articles/german-tourist-goes-viral-sampling-131618219.html?guccounter=1">Walmart</a>, which have caused our foreign friends’ <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-Q-sXHgYjoE">eyes to pop out</a> from the variety of items available, not to mention the footprint of the stores.
While documenting his journey, British tourist Oliver Henry was so embraced by many Americans that they started a GoFundMe to help extend his trip to Dallas, Boston, and even New York. He appeared nationally on several U.S. media outlets and even visited the White House.
Henry said in a video that he now <a href="https://x.com/oliverhenry/status/2071226140237173138?s=20">understands why</a>, “America is the land of opportunity [&#8230;] there is nowhere else in the world where this would be possible.”
Henry is correct. Our Founding Fathers believed that a new world was possible, built not on lineage or station in life, but on freedom and individual liberties. This embodies the American spirit: the power to chase your dreams and chart your trajectory. Whether those dreams are as big as a SpaceX or as small as a barbecue storefront, the pursuit of happiness does not happen without believing that you and God are in control of your destiny in a free society and free market system. That combination makes us unstoppable.
In <a href="https://x.com/DrewPavlou/status/2075325099310453147?s=20">their</a> <a href="https://x.com/BastiandMatti/status/2076524527274643570?s=20">farewell</a> <a href="https://x.com/BelannF/status/2074262964996067761?s=20">videos</a>, many of our friends say they will be back, and we will <a href="https://x.com/Conservatron1/status/2076673265976688657?s=20">welcome them</a> with open arms.
We cherish our country and the benefits of our free-market system. We’re happy to share these blessings with others. However, let’s avoid importing socialist policies that could undermine what makes America great.
***
Jennifer Oliver O’Connell is a visiting fellow with Independent Women.

USA v Australia: Group D – FIFA World Cup 2026

Why America Keeps Winning Hearts And Minds During The World Cup

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.

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

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

Men's soccer

Women's Soccer

New York City Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani found a new victim to champion this week: the Egyptian national soccer team.
The mayor, never one to pass up a grievance, used his own press event for a bus-speed initiative to sneak in a jab at the World Cup, repeatedly claiming the Egyptian national soccer team got cheated in its loss to Argentina.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨🇦🇷 NEW: NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani says that Egypt were “robbed” in yesterday’s World Cup game against Argentina <a href="https://t.co/bigWXCN04q">pic.twitter.com/bigWXCN04q</a>
— Politics Global (@PolitlcsGlobal) <a href="https://x.com/PolitlcsGlobal/status/2074877119708987839?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 8, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The backstory: Argentina staged a stunner of a comeback Tuesday, erasing a 2-0 deficit in the final 15 minutes to beat Egypt 3-2, with Enzo Fernández heading home the winner in the 92nd minute off a Messi-orchestrated night that also saw the Argentine superstar convert a second-half equalizer. Egypt led thanks to goals from Yasser Ibrahim and Mostafa Ziko — but Ziko&#8217;s earlier goal was wiped out by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in the 58th minute for a foul in the buildup.
Egypt&#8217;s manager, Hossam Hassan, set the tone postgame, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/7/8/egypt-criticises-influential-refereeing-in-argentina-world-cup-match">insisting</a> the whole match felt &#8220;influential&#8221; and complaining that a penalty claim went unchecked while Egypt&#8217;s goal got the microscope treatment.
The Egyptian Football Association has since filed a formal complaint with FIFA.
Mamdani, apparently unable to resist a good grievance narrative even when it&#8217;s 6,000 miles from Gracie Mansion, jumped on the bandwagon a day later — mixing his bus-lane victory lap with a nod to Egypt&#8217;s &#8220;injustice.&#8221;
Here&#8217;s the problem: the evidence doesn&#8217;t back him up.
Multiple soccer analysts who&#8217;ve broken down the replay say the disallowed goal was correct by the letter of the law — Egyptian midfielder Marwan Attia tugged the shirt of Argentine defender Lisandro Martínez and stepped on his foot while winning the ball that launched the counterattack, making it a legitimate reviewable phase of play under VAR protocol. That&#8217;s not a phantom call — that&#8217;s a foul.
Later in the contest, with the score level at 2-2, Mohamed Salah <a href="https://www.india.com/sports/fifa-world-cup-2026-were-egypt-robbed-in-their-ro16-loss-to-argentina-var-controversies-explained-8468835/">tumbled</a> to the ground in the penalty area following a challenge from Nicolas Tagliafico. The referee opted to let play continue; VAR declined to step in, which meant Argentina could launch an attack that ended with Enzo Fernandez heading home a stunning 92nd-minute winner. Replays of the incident suggested Salah went down rather easily, with only minimal contact — Tagliafico&#8217;s challenge connected with the ball first, not his opponent&#8217;s feet.
And the larger story of the match wasn&#8217;t a stolen goal — it was a genuine, jaw-dropping Argentina comeback. Down 2-0 with under 40 minutes left against a team that had gone unbeaten through the tournament, the defending champs scored three unanswered goals in a 14-minute span, with Messi at the center of it after missing a first-half penalty. That&#8217;s not officials handing Argentina a trophy — that&#8217;s the two-time champs refusing to go home against the tournament&#8217;s Cinderella story.
None of that has stopped the pile-on. Egypt&#8217;s coach, its federation, and now New York&#8217;s mayor are all singing from the same &#8220;we were robbed&#8221; songbook — despite the tape showing a legal foul call and a legitimately incredible comeback.
Mamdani built a career on playing the underdog card. Turns out he&#8217;s happy to play it for a soccer team on another continent, too — evidence be damned.

Midtown Manhattan Buildings Evacuated After Collapse Warning

Mamdani Plays Victim Card, Says Egypt Was ‘Robbed’ In World Cup Defeat

Egypt

Zohran Mamdani

The face of the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT), Christian Pulisic, received serious criticism over comments he made after his disappointing 2026 World Cup performance.
During a post-game interview after the 4-1 loss to Belgium in the Round of 16, the star player often dubbed &#8220;Captain America&#8221; made a comment to <a href="https://x.com/FOXSports/status/2074341334861639898">Fox Sports</a> that set many off: “I sprained my ankle. It’s frustrating to end like that of course, but now I can get time to rest, so hopefully it’ll be okay.&#8221;
Pulisic was injured at the end of the first half in the opening game against Paraguay, leaving him to sit out the ensuing match against Australia. He suited up for the following three games but failed to score any goals.
Critics were unimpressed that Pulisic highlighted the U.S. team&#8217;s final-game loss as a positive, spinning it as more time to &#8220;rest.&#8221; Paired with his own lackluster performance, the remark sent shockwaves across social media.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
You rest when your playing career is over. Period.
— Carli Lloyd (@CarliLloyd) <a href="https://x.com/CarliLloyd/status/2074684312738468299?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 8, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
He rested the entire World Cup. <a href="https://t.co/FwBr3Oy7zp">https://t.co/FwBr3Oy7zp</a>
— Sydney Leroux (@sydneyleroux) <a href="https://x.com/sydneyleroux/status/2074539612467298562?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 7, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The two women’s thoughts on Pulisic were shared by many across the country, including former USMNT members Landon Donovan and Tim Howard, who appear on the “Unfiltered Soccer” podcast together.
Donovan, who admitted to playing poorly himself in the 2006 World Cup, jabbed at Pulisic, saying he had failed to give it his all in the moment it counted most.
“The reality is, he came out of a World Cup knockout game at home, with his leg still intact. Because you would have had to f*cking drag me off the field,” he said to Howard and viewers. “And I would have punched the doctor in the face and said ‘You’re not taking me off the field. Put whatever you need to put in me, and I’m staying on the field.’”
“I hope for his sake he isn’t on social media for the foreseeable future,” Howard added.
The criticism Pulisic is facing was not an opinion that formed overnight. His post-game comment was just the tipping point that set former players off after several lackluster performances of late.
In the first half of their final game, Pulisic lost possession 11 separate times — the most of any player in the first 45 minutes of the game. He injured his ankle before Belgium’s third goal, at which point he exited the match. From the beginning of 2026 up until the World Cup training started, he had zero goal contributions in league play.
He also sat out of the Gold Cup tournament and infamously called this World Cup &#8220;just another big tournament.&#8221;
It is hard to pinpoint the exact moment it began to all fall apart for Pulisic, but the U.S. soccer fanbase appears to have turned on the man they once called &#8220;Captain America.&#8221;

Team USA’s ‘Captain America’ Sparks Backlash After Disappointing World Cup

Former NFL quarterback Tom Brady joked Tuesday that Egypt&#8217;s stunning World Cup collapse against Argentina may have surpassed the infamous &#8220;28-3&#8221; comeback from Super Bowl LI. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Yeah so that might top 28-3 🤯
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) <a href="https://x.com/TomBrady/status/2074554217361010904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 7, 2026</a></blockquote>
Brady took to social media minutes after Argentina rallied from a 2-0 deficit late in the second half to defeat Egypt 3-2 and advance to the World Cup quarterfinals. 
&#8220;Yeah so that might top 28-3,&#8221; Brady joked.
Brady’s reference to &#8220;28-3&#8221; is a nod to the Patriots&#8217; comeback from a 25-point second-half deficit against the Falcons, the largest comeback in Super Bowl history and Brady&#8217;s fifth Super Bowl win. 
Argentina entered the match as the favorite, but Egypt struck first just 15 minutes in, with Yasser Ibrahim scoring. The Egyptians carried a 1-0 lead into halftime before appearing to put the match away when Mostafa Zico scored after an earlier goal had been disallowed. 
On the brink of elimination, Argentina scored three times between the 79th minute and stoppage time. Cristian Romero began the comeback before Lionel Messi tied the match and Enzo Fernández scored the game-winner in the second minute of added time. 
The Egyptian collapse immediately drew comparisons to some of the biggest blown leads in sports history, including the Atlanta Falcons&#8217; infamous loss to Brady and the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI. 
Brady&#8217;s post suggests Egypt&#8217;s collapse could rank alongside, or even surpass, the Falcons&#8217; meltdown as one of sports&#8217; greatest blown leads.  
The score &#8220;28-3&#8221; has become shorthand for spectacular collapses in sports and is often cited whenever a team &#8220;chokes&#8221; and squanders a seemingly insurmountable lead. Coincidentally, the match between Egypt and Argentina took place at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, home of the Falcons.

TOPSHOT-AMFOOT-NFL-SUPERBOWL

Tom Brady Compares Stunning World Cup Collapse To Infamous ’28-3′ Comeback

Celebrities

Tom Brady

U.S.

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

Menu