Messi, Club World Cup, MLS, 2026 FIFA World Cup, Donald Trump... is soccer about to breakthrough into the US sporting mainstream?

This weekend, the 2025 MLS season kicked off in packed stadiums across the country with San Diego FC becoming the thirtieth team to join the league with the Mikey Varas coached side recording a win over champions LA Galaxy.

As it celebrates its 30th season, MLS has come a long way since its inception in the 1990s and its growth is a yardstick as how the league and indeed the game has grown in the United States over the past three decades. However, despite this positive evolution, soccer still trails when compared to the big four in terms of traditionally popular US sports: NFL, MLB, NBA and even the NHL.

Prior to the new season, MLS stated that their total attendance for the 2024 regular season and Audi MLS Cup Playoffs ranks second in the world among all soccer leagues, according to data sourced from Opta.

Over 12.1 million fans attended an MLS match during the 2024 season as the US soccer league trailed only the English Premier League in total attendance globally through the 2024 Conference Finals.

Despite the impressive numbers, many regular US sports fans are unaware that the nation, will, for example host the World Cup next year with others even unaware what a World Cup is!

1994, year zero

The 1994 World Cup, hosted in the United States, was supposed to be a detonating factor in seeing soccer explode Stateside. The MLS eventually started in 1996, but experienced financial and operational struggles in its first few years, losing millions of dollars which saw two teams go to the wall.

In a recent interview with AS, MLS Head of Competition Alfonso Mondelo, claims that these next few years are pivotal for the United States sports fan to discover what soccer can be like in a country like the USA.

“The 1994 World Cup was the beginning of the transformation of soccer in the United States. We have certainly grown. The 2026 World Cup will be the definitive step in establishing soccer as one of the king sports in this country,” explained Mondelo.

US obstacles

Despite dominating the CONCACAF region, the US men’s team have yet to really create waves on a global level and this will have also hampered the game on a national level with the USWNT arguable enjoying more popularity. Lionel Messi’s arrival in Miami was undoubtedly a shot in the arm for the game but there is still a lack of big star names to ignite the sport in a nation where personality is key as we saw with the WNBA and the Caitlin Clark effect.

Despite positive work from Apple TV+ with its MLS strategy via the MLS Season Pass, subscriber numbers have never been issued and despite positive headway, an MLS Cup final barely registers on the average sports fan’s radar.

This summer, the US will host both the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup which has been supported by new US president Trump and the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Both tournaments will pave the way for the 2026 World Cup which will be co-hosted by Mexico, Canada and the US and surely is soccer’s Stateside silver bullet.

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