Why Americans suck at soccer (well, the men)

We’ve got a theory, and it involves the soccer wars.
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In this episode of Vox Almanac, Vox’s Phil Edwards puts forth a theory about terrible American men’s soccer.
There are a lot of reasons Americans suck at soccer - but if you look at the history, you’ll find a surprisingly compelling explanation for why American soccer never took off. In the 1920s, soccer was a surprisingly successful sport in the US, with massive matches and a robust league. What went wrong?
American soccer and English football first diverged in the 1800s, when American colleges like Harvard and Yale started playing a more rugby-like game. But America quickly caught up with soccer in the 1920s, attracting large crowds and even stealing away European players.
Then the soccer wars happened. Constant battles in the 1920s between the ASL - American Soccer League - and USFA - United States Football Association - carved up American soccer’s cash, fans, and talent. By the time the depression hit, American soccer was so weakened that it couldn’t rebound as well as European and South American soccer culture did. The subsequent half-century of sports build up gave Americans a permanent handicap when it came to building a robust soccer culture.
It’s a theory - but the success of the US Women’s National Team bears out the idea that something is specifically wrong for the men. And it just might be the case that 1920s soccer wars are the reason.
Read about the own-goal that made the US Men's National Team miss the 2018 World Cup: www.theringer....
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[@Vox]

If you picture a soccer ball looking like this ⚽, you're not alone. But back in the early days of television they looked very, very different. Watch: bit.ly/2tf3RP5

[@wmfrkdtn]

Vox Football*

[@RyanSpringer1984]

Vox u guys ever hear of FootGolf?

[@mceshug]

Vox #notallmen

[@femto505]

Vox it's called Football

[@zachstevens7382]

Vox who cares...

[@parthgajjar1607]

They sucked so hard, they picked up the ball and started running with it and called it football.

[@Bug-sg1li]

😂

[@DanTheCaptain]

Thats actually how Rugby Union and Rugby League got started in the UK. Than as it got popular the Canadians got a hold of it and made Canadian Football. Than the Americans came and copied Canadian Football and changed it to make modern day American Football!

[@lookm4n]

Lol

[@entropias_gonos]

So, let me get this straight... At some point the british called football "soccer", which literally is an abbreviation for the word 'association' aka meaning any sport that has an organization behind it, so, basically the misc-ball of sports, so, the USA heard that and said "Hey! We may have fought a war to be independent from the British, but, that dumbass name they are calling football, that sound cool, lets use that!". At the same time, the british where playing a much more dangerous and health risking sport, called Rugby... so the USA copied it after the Canadians copied it and said "Hey! Those Canadians are pretty cool, we love them all of the sudden and their half english, half france nation and weird traditions..... LETS NAME THIS SPORT IN WHICH WE ONLY USE FEET TO KICK THE BALL ONCE FOOTBALL! YAY!" and that makes sense to you?

[@libbybollinger5901]

Parth Gajjar It was called Football first, before any of these splits. And the foot part refers to the fact that it was played on foot, as it was a game more for commoners, unlike many games for the medieval upper class which were played on foot.

[@duckmasterflex]

The only reason the USA succeedes in womens soccer is because all other countries barely invest in womens soccer

[@inter5123]

Christopher Bathgate USA isn’t any better lol. Have you seen the difference in pays etc? Between men and women

[@jasonsender6568]

That's because thee men earn more in sponsorship, due to higher ability levels, not just because its not invested in.

[@aarond23]

Totally agree, Vox tries to take a political angle and credit Title 9 not the total reason...the US is also the best in 'Women's Baseball' which has no Title 9 help

[@finn0729]

yeah it's a structural issue, which is what the video is saying, that maybe things would be different for the men's team if usa soccer was organized differently. usa women's team was ahead of the curve because of title ix, and usa men's team was behind the curve because of the league disputes.

[@aarond23]

Marcel not sure where you are in the World but the US womens World Cup teams are fairly big news in the US...not quite like the Men's World Cup but it gets decent amount of coverage here since we usually have a chance to win.

[@MRFlackAttack1]

The choice of background audio is all over the place.

[@JV-ub7ev]

Yeah, it's totally throwing me off.

[@megakev321]

Vox doesn't have the highest quality stuff.

[@chickenwings2352]

Megakev It was intentional

[@itskolezig9308]

It gave me an anuerism

[@drpepper3598]

MR FlackAttack flute guitar drum

[@mabrenz_n5391]

for starters stop calling it "soccer."

[@xgolden610]

@VojtaK ikr , lol running with ball with hands calling it football xD american logic ...

[@thecrippledpancake9455]

VojtaK It’s called football because the ball is 12 inches long. Goodness, are we the only ones that don’t use the clearly superior metric system around here!!!??

[@xgolden610]

@Ian Quinones i don't get it, why would u name a sport according to the size of a ball it doesn't make any sense

[@overrideaction5415]

Thank you finally somebody says it👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@Kopenhagen23]

Ian Quinones The name of the game is named after how the ball is 12 inches long

[@egilleinarsson8793]

when iceland a country with 338,000 people are ten times better

[@ratedpending]

more like 3 and a half but i get your point

[@frensplace5576]

The only thing Iceland is good at other than fishing in cold ice as a living

[@ryanlieberman9255]

Very enlightening background on where the disconnect began. However this is an oversimplification. American resources are significant enough to quickly bridge much of this gap were there enough interest to do so. The fact is that American sports fans still do not have enough enthusiasm for the game to trigger the investment and participation needed for America to gain ground. Americans haven’t caught up because Americans have chosen to focus on other sports. There has been plenty of administrative conflict and infighting in other American sports. The AFL/NFL fight, and USFL litigation, multiple labor strikes in baseball, the NBA battle with the ABA, etc. Americans still dominate the world in all those sports despite these issues.

[@carlosluque2346]

@@ryanlieberman9255 kind of tough to not dominate when you're the only one playing those sports.

[@connordorsey1935]

Carlos Luque South and Central America, along with Asian countries are deeply invested in baseball. Also the US is highly competitive in hockey, which is a game played across the world (where it’s cold), and basketball is an Olympic sport.

[@AshHughes97]

1) USA finished 4th*** at 1930 World Cup 2) Only 13 teams competed, compared to 32 teams at 2018 WC 3) Qualification wasn’t required for the 1930 WC and because of its location in South America, most European teams chose not to play due to the high costs associated with travel

[@ministryOFmuff]

This is like how Americans talk about how they won an olympic medal for rugby in the 1920s, neglecting to mention the part where there was only one other team playing and all the actual good rugby countries werent even in the tournament.

[@John-co5of]

Thanks for the clarification, I didn't know that

[@GrapeJuiceCXX]

The USA did finish in 3rd place though by default. Yugoslavia refused to play the 3rd place match. - I’m a few months late lol, but the VOX video got it right.

[@TheMrPeteChannel]

@@GrapeJuiceCXX The United States was also the only nation to get to 3rd place that was not from South America or Europe in any men's World Cup.

[@efxnews4776]

@@TheMrPeteChannel yeah, but let's be honest, in North america, only Mexico knows how to play football, they are the second after Brazil in participation in world cups.

[@180_S]

A key point that you're missing is that everywhere in the world footy is a working class sport open to everyone. The expensive equipment and expensive youth leagues in the US mean that it is purely a middle class or upper middle class game, heavily policed by adults. Go anywhere in South America and you'll see kids playing informally in their neighborhoods, developing the creativity on their own, which is crucial to playing the game well. As long as youth soccer consists of just well-off kids competing in highly controlled settings, the game will not flourish in the USA.

[@natx4207]

greenblackout exactly!

[@Vox]

I was actually talking about this with a friend and he brought up this (good point). Interestingly, all the 1920s teams in the US were quite working class (you can get a hint of this from the names, like Bethlehem Steel). To me, it says that soccer could have been a universal sport in America if not for the implosion of the ASL. -Phil

[@jacobkruger2821]

The US is also one of the only countries in the world where a substantial amount of kids even play baseball. Football does not require equipment nor money it just requires some sort of ball. Just a ball and nothing else.

[@natx4207]

ASF Entertainment how many inner city American schools have soccer? Almost zero I bet! It is about class position, upper class kids from the suburbs just aren't as competitive as others.

[@darfoz8807]

greenblackout Couldn't have said it better myself

[@hareega]

Diego Maradona said, “the best place to learn soccer is the street”. The majority of great players were poor and “soccer” is their game. In the US it’s mostly for upper middle class. Many poor are immigrants who may have amazing talent but don’t get involved much in the leagues

[@angadsingh9314]

Yea the poor in America play basketball

[@iche9373]

Diego Maradona got also the drugs from the street

[@housesavagemafia7504]

@@angadsingh9314 And Soccer...Today in America there's a lot more Immigrants and stuff like that. More Mexicans, Ecuadorians, Guatemalans, Colombians, Argentine, Peruvians, and so on. And they have brought really good soccer knowledge in the Country. Atleast in New York there seems to be so many ppl from all parts of the world...playing here in the streets in indoors and fields.

[@yodaddy6586]

Most soccer professionals soccer players are drafted out of universities. 😆

[@EnglishforFOOTBALLFANS]

Yes, you're right poverty is great motivation. Immigration in America will improve the level of football in America. (I talk about 'what makes a footballer' in a recent video on my channel.)

[@yummyjackalmeat]

the music selection and sound design are truly terrible.

[@TheKurtkapan34]

It's a cacophony, just like US Men's football team.

[@wisxper]

yummyjackalmeat it's not all about music

[@stevencats7137]

yummyjackalmeat how about u try making a video of this quality.

[@unlimitedpower9140]

lmao

[@ifxthenwhy6202]

@@stevencats7137 Easy, just don't put in random snippets of music at the most nonsensical places and then abruptly cut them out after a few seconds, if you didn't hear anything wrong with this video get your ears checked

[@user-eq1jv3oo5v]

i dont care if amercains call it soccer i just dont understad who was thowing an egg around and thought football was a good name to call it

[@philheathslegalteam]

RunningBall it should be called, as it's all you do...

[@user-eq1jv3oo5v]

Comment Cop never really watched it properly but handegg is cool its like rugby with armour

[@Billy-I-Am-Not]

Well you kick it and... nevermind, carry on

[@user-eq1jv3oo5v]

@@Billy-I-Am-Not what?

[@Billy-I-Am-Not]

@@user-eq1jv3oo5v ah never mind

[@donal935]

For a starters its because you call it soccer.

[@kermitbigbooty8758]

So calling it by a different name automatically makes you bad? By that logic you just called England bad.

[@rattypatty1610]

it was first called soccer then they changed it to football

[@vanham5397]

Noice Banter r/whooosh

[@filipdurczewski1326]

Yousra Iqbal doesntmatter... Football bydefinition is played byfoot...

[@jbean9258]

@@kermitbigbooty8758 England is bad

[@jerryerickson9921]

As an american who raised two boys in brazil and participated in the whole soccer thing - training, tournaments, etc., I would say that the united states doesn't stand a chance in men's soccer. In brazil, most boys start kicking a ball before they can walk (their father or uncles help), and after they can walk, its soccer nearly 365 days a year. For many formal soccer school training starts at 2 years. Rich and poor kids participate in these schools and most are very inexpensive. Kids from poor families get a discount or even train for free. Tournaments start at about 5 years of age, and by the time your kid is 8 years old the tournaments start getting serious. There are tournaments of all types everywhere all year, many repeatimg twice a year. By the time boys are 10 years the better players can do every trick and dribble, and the big club teams are already snatching up players from the poorer families. Many are separated from their families to go train with a top division club at 11 or 12 years (sometimes the father or family will move with the boy, and the club helps the father with a job, etc). Or if they don't go to a top division club, there are all types of other local clubs to train with. They train year round to the physical limits of the body (hours are regulated by age to not over train and damage growth, joints, etc). On average, brazilian boys interested in soccer (a lot) will end up training 10 to 20 times more hours than an american and their young brains develop the neurological connections for the tecnical skills at a much earlier age. What I concluded is that a soccer brain must be trained early and the more hours you train the better you will be. So brazil ends up with an enormous pool of skilled players to choose from. 80% of brazilian sports is soccer, and a lot of the boys, especially from poor families, dream of being a soccer star.

[@horseshit1503]

Eh were smarter who cares

[@horseshit1503]

@neymar shows🇧🇷🇧🇷it's soccer buddy

[@thiparei2102]

Pretty accurate comment

[@Student0Toucher]

America has won the word cup…great defense against Mexico

[@epic9256]

@@Student0Toucher America has never won the Men’s World Cup.

[@RahatAlam]

clean your laptop vox :| You aren't in college anymore.

[@Vox]

It was only after shooting that I realized how truly disgusting my laptop had become. Deep, deep shame. -Phil

[@river941]

Exactly the first thing I noticed xD

[@sansyboy4181]

Do people in college not know how to clean their laptops? ew

[@copykat4604]

Vox DR PHILL????

[@d_wang9836]

Vox Doshonor on you, dishonor on your family, dishonor on you cat, dis...

[@TheNon91]

I can't concentrate with the video because of the freaking music 🙄

[@Jinaria101]

I bathe In Bacon grease well music has been around for years we know how music can effect us

[@Pinkie007]

Don’t worry it’s Vox just watch something else

[@RKO-bu7il]

Succer music

[@madfrogisme1]

My friend in the US told me US kids enjoyed soccer when they were kids, but when they became teenagers they went for football and baseball and there's no household names for soccer in the country.

[@goat5815]

Do you mean handegg or football

[@america1832]

FOOTBALL ⚽

[@benjyboy8481]

It’s more basketball but I wouldn’t say the typical basketball kid is more athletic than the typical futbol kid in America it comes down more to how the youth system is set up

[@america1832]

@@benjyboy8481 el deporte más grande popular y prácticado de AMERICA y del mundo entero es el FOOTBALL FÚTBOL FUTEBOL ⚽ AMERICA es un CONTINENTE compuesto de 35 países y más de 1000 millones de habitantes estás ratas de EEUU no solo se quieren apropiar del nombre del verdadero original y real FOOTBALL también se quieren apropiar del nombre que fue dado y que pertenece al CONTINENTE pobre gente estúpida dan lástima

[@itslife1399]

@@goat5815 well the british use to call it soccer. And American Football eventually evolved from that, but the name stuck.

[@burhancityreal]

the music be like: nanana.... nanana.... BOOM DUN DUN DUN BOOM DUN DUN!!! nanana.... nanana....

[@brandonsmith546]

Even Vox videos are the same.

[@99txgh]

Well, the US is hosting the 2026 world cup apparently, it would be embarrassing if their team was another let down for them

[@gtaclevelandcity]

Fiha Rani why would it be embarrassing? Nobody watches it anyway. Nobody I know even realized the world cup was going on right now.

[@davidrenz1534]

GTA Cleveland if you don't know about the world cup you live under a rock

[@00ryanm00]

The usa will automatically qualify for the world cup if they host it.

[@quicksilvermarvel6392]

GTA Cleveland, cuz you are Canadian or American living in Canada or USA. Everyone watching the FIFA World Cup right now.

[@maximus-gg6wc]

GTA Cleveland saying nobody watches it about the most viewed sporting event in the world is a bit ignorant... or as i would say its american

[@Dan-xs8nm]

The editing in this video is downright jarring, audio is random seemingly and the shots change so rapidly. It's quite distracting.

[@arthas640]

The audio is all over the place and the random close up shots of the apple pie were confusing. At first i thought it was a landscape shot of the Southwest...

[@aldnav]

Right? I thought its poorly written. Plus the audio seems out of place. Can't even finish watching.

[@linus6078]

It's some playful music disussing a not very serious topic I find that it fits perfectly! And also I don't mind the editing...

[@johnadamsgaming5898]

Yea I’m just confused by this video

[@ishworshrestha3559]

Ok

[@wk3820]

The reason is simple. Traditionally, American kids grow up playing basketball, football and baseball more than soccer. Countries become good at a particular sport when lots of kids grow up playing it. That's why Canada and Russia are great at hockey, America rocks basketball and even the Dominican Republic can make a name for itself in baseball.

[@luiscontreras2177]

Exactly if LeBron and other players from the NBA and NFL played soccer they would be great

[@JP-pc1lb]

Agreed

[@DumbassPlumber]

Luis Contreras no

[@legokid12312]

Exactly, that’s why the US women team is so dominant. Our best women athletes go into soccer while the best male athletes go to football and basketball.

[@johnvuu4679]

but i feel like everyone played soccer when they were kids. even at recess kids would makes teams and play soccer, not football or baseball.

[@christyguy59]

"british and scottish talent" Vox aren't British unionists, confirmed

[@Ronanbart564]

Technically the British and Scottish leagues are different thus the talent would be playing in different competitions and therefore would need to be separated.

[@te1327]

Good

[@baileyi594]

I mean the ireland Btitain is England, Scotland and Wales. So they're wrong

[@yesyesyesimdoingallthetime2770]

@@Ronanbart564 there is no British league

[@Knowingspy]

@@Ronanbart564 You're missing the point. Scotland is a part of Britain. England is a part of Britain. Saying British and Scottish players makes no sense, because Scotland would be part of the British group anyway. It's the equivalent of saying players from Texas and the United States; it's implying one isn't a part of the other. There is no such thing as a British league either.

[@khumothage4629]

Because its football.

[@idathenarwhale3228]

Yes!!

[@meneertjepeddington3419]

What?

[@meneertjepeddington3419]

You mean soccer?

[@deex4s5]

not rugby, it's american rugby

[@jackvw3179]

Khumo Thage who cares

[@zCopyCatz]

Dafaq if this music? Pick either a flute or a drum beat, don't mix them.

[@ltnagle2492]

Mountaindew I’m guessing Alex Jones said that?

[@ryan-ch7wv]

@Mountaindew How many stars are on the U.S. mens jersey? Zero. How many on the womens? Now, four.

[@taliii8609]

Mountaindew lol, what? you’re so toxic, grow up will ya? haha. Sports are fun for both men and women, and people like to have fun 😅

[@newton1000]

shut

[@chickenwings2352]

Chicken Rice Warrior It was intentional

[@brandona7526]

It’s because the US is pay to play. Only way through is academies. Academies can cost a kid as much as 10k a year to just play on a youth team. I grew up with some amazing youth players. Anyone with talent either goes abroad or doesn’t have the money to make it to the national team.

[@rachelsanchis]

In Spain there is no such thing as sports scholarships, people literally choose to play a sport or go to school. Not only that, (excluding soccer players), most athletes can't afford to live off what they earn playing, even professional ones. Many have to have a side job while being pro athletes. And somehow Spain delivers amazing athletes. I don't know how it happens. I'm not saying you don't have a point, just saying that is not an excuse.

[@brandona7526]

NewsFromNY but you don’t understand what I’m saying is that the talent is there it’s just you only get as far as you can pay. The rich kids end up making it all the way to the national camp. There’s no large clubs to fund so poor kids fall off the wayside when they can’t join teams. Also anyone who is willing do what you just said and has the talent goes to Europe I had friends trying to go professional in France and Spain. Another left for an academy in Germany because there he had the funding to at least play for free. Playing here at high levels in youth costs serious money.

[@drekt2698]

What you say is so true and the fact is that most teams were worried about politics over talent. After playing in multiple regional tournaments after state cups and making it to the finals a few times for regionals its astonishing to see some of the best players I grew up playing against quit before or after college. If only we put as much effort into soccer as we did basketball for example would we start seeing a difference in the talent wishing to stay in the US and play for our national team. The talent is there the system is not.

[@MariE-bz2eq]

NewsFromNY it's a lot different in the U.S.. Soccer is pretty much a rich kids sport as it cost around 10k to participate.

[@zacdavis440]

the main issue isn't at the collegiate level, although that structure is completely wrong for soccer. The youth programs, academies, where talent is developed is often too expensive for most. The number of young soccer players is narrowed when their progression is made un-affordable, then the player pool is made up of those who could afford it, and not the best players. It's these kids who pay-to-play that get noticed by colleges and/or foreign club agents. We need to eliminate pay-to-play and cast a bigger net on the youth. Start developing ANY player who shows signs of ambition, skill, aspiration, and enthusiasm for the sport, and let other aspects of life weed out talent. NOT MONEY!!

[@kalechips9966]

Wow the music/sound editing is almost stressful in this

[@RoxinPlay08]

Ommmg do u care about the edit or vídeo??

[@lj7169]

I think you're just upset because your country are s*** at football

[@CuriosityCulture]

I blame espn for never covering soccer as much. Most kids grow up seeing highlights of baseball, American football, and basketball.

[@MayurBharali]

João Nuno Santos thats a bit of a understatement

[@cuvius2295]

football*

[@natsumi1120]

João Nuno Santos You're a dumb ass

[@sanashy9024]

You know the business, the revenue isn’t in soccer for espn.

[@johankiwii]

You blamed ESPN for covering the most popular sports in America (which Soccer is nowhere near to be a part of)?

[@malacki6554]

This background music is making me laugh for no reason 🤣

[@birdyedits4051]

Suits how bad they are :)

[@lisasibagariang5786]

Lol

[@kari_naf2333]

I laughed so much I couldn't even concentrate

[@zenaidagul1188]

its one of those musics in cartoons where the protagonists is setting up the trapped and the antagonist will fall for it in a few seconds

[@zzshark3372]

Same! For some reason?

[@PepeHorne]

Correction: USA didn’t finish 3rd in 1930. because there was no 3rd place match. In fact, the semifinalist who lost to a World Champion was considered 3rd, therefore, Yugoslavia should’ve been declared as 3rd. Some legend says that Yugoslavians and Americans played a game in a backyard of their hotel, but none of the players on both team wanted to satly who won that game, because they made a deal as gentlemen that they wouldn’t brag, but they just wanted to see who’s better... among themselves. Sounds so romantic, but i guess people were different then.

[@nadjarad]

there's a popular serbian film detailing the story of yugoslavia's world cup run called 'Montevideo, Bog te video' if you're interested :)

[@wisxper]

Well World Cup FIFA has no meaning then, as there is no 3rd place

[@GrapeJuiceCXX]

The USA finished 3rd place by default because Yugoslavia refused to play the 3rd place match. Regardless, FIFA puts the USA as the 3rd placed nation of the 1930 WC.

[@NazriB]

Lies again? Soccer Dangerous

[@illogical1421]

@@GrapeJuiceCXX According to Wikipedia, they're ranked based on their records in the tournament.

[@seanfroudistwalsh3870]

I have lived in 3 European countries, and now the United States. The most noticeable difference is that in Europe and South America, football (soccer) is the easiest and cheapest sport to play. Kids constantly play on the street, and any fees for a club just cover the bare minimum to reimburse the referee for their time and little else. In contrast, in the US soccer is expensive (presumably because of pricey insurance), and it has consequently become a rich person's sport, which greatly reduces the talent base.

[@sabinandrei2807]

In all fairness, Americans don't appreciate football as Europeans or Latin Americans - and I'm not saying it as a bad thing. They have other sports (basketball; hockey; American football) they follow. Probably if they invested as much in football as in other sports, they would have had a good national team. It's about what they like, and it appears they do not enjoy football as other countries - which is not a bad thing.

[@pfl95]

Did you watch the video? It highlights a historical reason why Football never got big socially/culturally. Football only became what it is from the 1900s. Americans missed out on it during a crucial period (the argument of hte video)

[@lamakicker69]

You hit the nail on the head, our best athletes are busy playing other sports, soccer(sorry it’s just what we call it) just is very popular among men hence the better athletes are draw to the more popular sports which is often Football or Basketball

[@George_1098]

lamakicker69 “best athletes playing other sports” has nothing to do with Americans being bad at soccer. The US have a bunch of talented Latinos that just cannot afford to play in the U.S. pay to play system. So they’re stuck with rich spoiled kids who do not have much passion for the sport. This is one problem another is that they try to develop their players like the NBA and NFL having them go to college and get drafted. Most of the players go to college all 4 years and when they’re drafted they are already 22 years old barely making their MLS debut. Where as in Europe and South America as young as 16 years old they have their talents already playing professionally. That’s a 6 year difference, this is also why the US does well in the under 19 tournaments because the talent difference isn’t much when they’re at that age, but European and South Americans players get better development over time playing professionally in the years that the US players are in college, which is why they tend to usually beat the US in the World Cup. Soccer players tend to develop the best from years 17-21 (endless they’re a late bloomer) and in those years the US players are in college.

[@TurboGauchiste]

Europe have more sports than USA and every europeans contries are far better than USA.

[@half-lifescientist1991]

Sabin Andrei It's actually because it's not worth investing time into

[@kimiesta]

The American men leaving the country (like Christian Pulisic, and Weston McKennie) are going to be the saving Grace for american football. These guys have gone to foreign, objectively good leagues, and made names for themselves in top tier teams. Rather than play in an inferior, and as some would call it retirement league.

[@sezr3122]

why stay in a team that would do your career no good when you can go and make a name for yourself? its like staying in a job that is sucking your soul out of you

[@antoinedoinell]

That model in the long term is not sustainable though. We need to develop more nationally as well. You can't succeed unless you have a good domestic league. It's a TEAM sport. Look at the previous WC winners. They had world beaters in every position. Germany, Spain, Italy, Brazil..none were one man teams and most grew up playing with each other.

[@kimiesta]

Dannon Seo the MLS, or pretty much any other non European league, will never become as good as the 5 big leagues. That is because of 1 the huge amount of money, 2 the huge amount of talent on the pitch and in the training staff, and 3 champions league. It is simply the biggest club tournament in the world. So developing the league will not be easy.

[@GW5fan]

I feel it is possible but on a long term. Having American player succeed in Europe will grow the interest domestically which may slowly improve the MLS.

[@davidrozemberg9295]

Europe will always have the top teams. It’s how it is.

[@hectorgutierrez3854]

It’s because soccer isn’t a way out of poverty in the US like in other countries. You have to pay thousands of dollars a year to play for these travel teams to get scouted and have a genuine chance of playing professional. Another issue is you have Americans playing college ball at 18-22ish while these South Americans and Europeans are already playing professionally at 16.

[@Robertl-xz6yl]

Hector Gutierrez it’s because yall are obese

[@dominikmatic4032]

Robert L lol

[@odelljimenez7936]

Hector Gutierrez completely agree with you we spend so much money a season for my brother to play In a travel team and that’s the only way to get scouted and the other reason is that in the US we don’t have any good clubs

[@sirluke84]

you have to pay to play? seriously??

[@odelljimenez7936]

Gianluca Giannetta unfortunately yes the only thing that I think that kept football “soccer” alive is the amount of foreigners that are in the US

[@sdeepj]

Association Football has always been called “soccer” and “football”. The US, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and Japan calls it soccer, because we have another form football.

[@randomuruk7230]

No one under the age of 40 calls football "soccer" in Ireland

[@saurdalaire]

@@randomuruk7230 Irish, can confirm

[@chrismacal3342]

@@randomuruk7230 its still embarrasing that anyone from ireland calls it soccer

[@Joshua_23]

@@chrismacal3342 how are Irish people meant to distinguish it from Rugby Union Football, Rugby League Football, Gaelic Football, International Football (irish-Australian Football hybrid) and Association 'soccer' Football?

[@GeneralGrizzy]

"British & Scottish talents"... Jesus Christ...

[@flacoguzman8132]

😂😂😂😂

[@arthas640]

To be fair I'm pretty sure Vox fired all their fact checkers awhile ago to make room for more political commentators.

[@alcabone1126]

@Abhinav Banerjee *football

[@jeffersondavis9415]

@Abhinav Banerjee and the british always win

[@expo6252]

Abhinav Banerjee *Football*

[@hynesclan]

We've won every single superbowl tho

[@anchetuh1181]

nhoj ZeroOne because we are the only country that plays superbowl tbh

[@regret9423]

Wow really...... Amazing.....

[@jacobalexander1768]

xBDAz nothing gets past you

[@turdburglar6718]

nhoj ZeroOne golden comment😂😂😂

[@osirim5725]

xBDAz r/wooosh

[@drunkenleaf7854]

only clicked on this video to see the absolute mess in the comments

[@cookedcelery4634]

yep, lots of bad grammer

[@nicolemalinoski99]

Same!

[@ThenameisNiels]

I was just here to see the "well, its a dumb sport, that nobody in the entire world plays... Murica!! Men!!"-comments :p ., not that many..

[@oMaJoJ]

Jerry K I came to see way more people ragging on America and Americans and complaining that "IT'S CALLED FOOTBALL!" in the comments and I wasn't disappointed.

[@ThenameisNiels]

awa ., I used to be a "its called Football, you guys!!"-guy (I paraphrase xD ) ., I am just taking it as a given., a Soccer video will always have a thousand idiots screaming "FOOTBALL!!" xD

[@geographyvibes5624]

I’m an American who plays soccer. One of our plays suggested by our coach is called “The Kickoff” which is basically starting the game with a big kick down the field and the whole team chases it down for a goal similar to a football kickoff.

[@granted4587]

I mean, its a good play if you need your defence to rest

[@paddenstoel95]

Think keeping it on the ground and rotating from strong to weak side will grant higher succes. Possession is precious in football, dont waist it on hail marries

[@ChrisMacal]

It’s called socball

[@quintrymes6047]

You say it has nothing to do with culture, yet it has almost everything to do with culture. People in my area literally call soccer (football) players grass fairies. That's not really an appreciative culture is it? People in America would just rather play football or basketball. I do think however that the US is starting to become a more soccer (football) focused country, with more youth programs and whatnot.

[@cornxpoan]

Quint Rymes mmm no. Soccer in the US is for babies that aren’t yet coordinated enough for football or basketball. Most Americans only care about soccer every 4 years during the World Cup, IF we are involved, and even then our expectations are extremely low.

[@kungfoochicken08]

This really gets to the heart of it. We have plenty of world class athletes. If those athletes had chosen soccer instead of football or basketball, there's no question we would be the dominate power in soccer.

[@kungfoochicken08]

That Guy Sports leagues developed before television, so most of the profits came from admission tickets. Football and basketball were popular in the US. Athletes flocked to the sport that made them the most money and gave them the most prestige. Even today, our basketball and football players make more than almost all soccer players, even those overseas. LeBron, for example, makes more money than Ronaldo (when you add in endorsements). Michael Jordan is a billionaire, something no soccer player has ever achieved.

[@kungfoochicken08]

That Guy It's money, popularity, and availability. The NBA has the highest average salary of any sports league in the world. Both the NFL and NBA are much more popular here as well. Young athletes grow up watching the Jordans, LeBrons, and Bradys and want to be like them. Probably the biggest factor is the training networks though. Basketball and football both have extensive training networks to funnel players with talent into programs at a young age. I haven't really given much thought to the subject, so feel free to poke holes in my arguments so we can learn together. I just don't think the problem is a lack of raw athletic talent in the US. It's the training and the sport talented athletes choose. Imagine if Kobe Bryant or Antonio Brown chose to play soccer at a young age. Or a 6'8 LeBron James playing defense.

[@krys8494]

kungfoochicken08 where did u get that lebron makes more money than ronaldo lol...heck messi makes more than lebron

[@MrWeboFrito]

It's just a cultural thing. We Latin Americans for example are used to the pace of the game. The lack of frequent scoring isn't boring to us because the anticipation or excitement of close calls plays is very addicting. Also, sometimes luck plays a major role (one bad step and the match may be doomed) and bad teams can win sometimes, giving every team's fan some hope. And as scoring is infrequent, for example, the tension from just being 1 goal above is very high, which is fun, so it's not like because there are 3 goals per match it's boring but anyway... We don't have to like the same sport all over the world.

[@Matheus-ki9zo]

Esteban Cuevas The most accurate comment here.

[@wyleehokie]

Respectfully, I see what you are saying and perhaps it is a cultural thing. As I mentioned in my comment just a bit ago, for most Americans looking at the England - Croatia match for example was an exercise in boredom. Tied at 1-1 through 108 minutes. So both teams played for 1 hour and 48 minutes (about the length of many movies) and yet only scored one goal apiece. I can see how some folks may view that as anticipation and tension building. But for most Americans, including myself, we see it as men kicking a ball around aimlessly for an eternity and it occasionally gets exciting when the play approaches the net. And this is from a person who actually enjoys women's soccer because I see them as playing a more aggressive/offensive oriented style of play Respectfully

[@MrWeboFrito]

George That's true for a lot of matches. The fact that we like soccer doesn't mean that every match is good. This world cup sadly gave us some of the most boring matches with very defensive teams doing nothing, haha

[@wyleehokie]

Plus, and this is purely my opinion, the offsides rule is one thing that leads to soccer/football being a more defensive minded sport. And combined with what I saw as some glaring issues such as in the 2010 World Cup when the English goal against Germany was disallowed despite it being visibly a goal. The failure of the governing body to allow for any sort of technology to confirm if a goal was scored or not is totally unacceptable ... especially in World Cup play when any goal is so important. And then a US goal being disallowed for no given reason www.nydailynews.com/sports/robbed-world-cup-late-goal-disallowed-u-s-forced-settle-2-2-draw-slovenia-article-1.180583 To me, any sport will have a given set of rules which the officials will use to explain why they make any decision. And to not do so when a single goal is so critical, it totally unacceptable Thanks for the discussion Cheers

[@Lilzx04]

Good explanation 👏🏾

[@rizzorizzo2311]

Our best athletes just don’t play soccer and it’s become a status sport and a pay wall has been erected that effectively shuts out a lot of potential candidates.

[@lionelfox1341]

That's because the American men are too busy being the best at several other sports, while the American women basically only have soccer.

[@alexman8800]

Nope. US men population far greater than Croatia, Uruguay and other tiny countries that go far in the World Cup. The truth is there is no intense competition at international women's soccer level. The US won because they have the most money and best infrastructure, best sports medicine to develop the sport, in most other countries women seldom kick a ball around. Hence they have the best team at women level, but that team would lose to ANY mens team you can assemble from any village in the world.

[@lionelfox1341]

@alexman8800 like Wrexham vs U.S women, or Texas U15 boys 😂😂😂😂😂

[@KingKiavash]

I can't watch when they keep calling it soccer.

[@Milo-ur1eh]

I hear you 😂

[@sabin97]

me too....i cringe at that weird word.....it's fútbol in america, or football in the anglo world.

[@ii8541]

its soccer guys. it makes more sense. Calling it football is too vague and I dont give a crap what the traditional people calls it. I would say soccer is part of football because it uses the foot, but there are many other sports that also uses the FOOT.

[@sabin97]

+ii it's not "the traditional people". it's EVERYONE. the sport is fútbol or football(in the anglo world). nobody calls it "soc-cer" or whatever weird term the anglos of usa use for it.... "there are many other sports that also uses the FOOT." pretty much every sport uses the foot, and the hand.

[@ii8541]

FOOTBALL cant describe one sport, its too stupid. Soccer is more specific and everyone knows it. ALSO its not everyone who says it. Say soccer is more logical, and nothing beats logic

[@MlSTERSANDMAN]

It's because they call it soccer...

[@aidanmco]

Mr. Sandman But the women won... And they call it soccer. (By your logic, that makes soccer the correct term)

[@LeagueUnionSevens]

Because they have two types of football: American football ("football") and association football ("soccer"). Just like how the UK has association football ("football") and rugby football ("rugby"). It's just different ways of naming things, get over it.

[@clivethefuhrer822]

aidan c. Yeah would love to See a U14 team play against Them... Ohh Yeaa The Danish U14 team won 15-2 Againt Them :)

[@jkromes20]

Asian pacific countries call it soccer too.......

[@davidmcdougall7266]

LeagueUnionSevens "Rugby Football"? That's just wrong.

[@hitdafolkslikyahh9100]

Because we eat tide pods

[@natefroggy3626]

im convinced this is a like bot

[@awesomemonsterface271]

Ate*

[@emptee1]

😂😂😂😂

[@cookedcelery4634]

ayyyte

[@sws212]

Awesome MonsterFace ate is past tense, mofos are still doing it

[@pitertauer3168]

Italy has 5 times fewer population than usa, yet they won 4 (men's) world cups

[@meowskersthecowboy1653]

Because soccer is the #1 sport in Italy by far, in america it's one of the least popular sports.

[@seanbrummfield448]

That's good for them.

[@shrek19yearsago78]

If the united states wanted to be the best at the sport they could if they wanted too

[@breezeyx664]

@@shrek19yearsago78 😂

[@flash012234]

@@shrek19yearsago78 As an American, that's cap. Americans have trouble in sports that they haven't themselves invented. Just take a look at Basketball, europeans are slowly catching up. Doncic is soon to become the best player on the planet as a white dude from eastern europe.

[@Braxant]

0:34 "bad mismanagement"? As opposed to good mismanagement?

[@brianbethea3069]

In this case, "bad" is an indicator as to the severity of the mismanagement. Makes perfect sense to me, hope I've helped clear things up for you! :)

[@johnsmithiii510]

I dont know maybe because it isnt a popular sport in the US among men

[@frozenbbfan]

This should be the top comment

[@bobbyshimoda5250]

Didn’t even know the women’s worlds cup was happening till it was over

[@pinknatty2000]

Yes, in the video it's clearly stated that it lost momentum due to socioeconomic issues that araised. It's explained why it's not popular lol

[@cactusjacksentme3211]

@@bobbyshimoda5250 Same lol

[@npcshark7050]

Top 3 American sports Football Merica Basketball Baseball

[@mravocadoman2999]

So why just the men? If the women’s team got rocked by a U15 team??

[@GDNachoo]

Because other woman football teams suck even more lol

[@philevans6395]

they don't get the funding our women do. Because of title 9 our women's sports have a base level of money that allows them to have a sort of starting point unlike in many other countries

[@GDNachoo]

That is machist

[@BrunoSantos-sb6vh]

And stupid, because you just admitted that the supposed America's best, the "physically superior males" are absolute rubbish, so there's that.

[@laura6954]

LN2233 what does that have to with anything? The US men's team sucks compared to other countries' men's teams. The US women's team is consistently higher ranked against other women's teams. No one is talking about women and men playing together

[@Will-ff6pt]

Kids: “soccer isn’t a sport!” Kids when the US is eliminated: 😯

[@mrhouse6886]

People here consider it not to be a sport because no one really like soccer it only popular with the older generation kids today play football basketball hockey and baseball

[@Will-ff6pt]

@@mrhouse6886 that’s a joke. Everybody recognizes football as a sport. Cut the 🧢

[@mrhouse6886]

@@Will-ff6pt a sport that’s a joke because we call it the wrong name

[@Will-ff6pt]

@@mrhouse6886 Canada and Australia call it soccer... it’s not a joke there. Soccer is a sport you child

[@flash012234]

@@mrhouse6886 Nah. Baseball is less of a sport in the USA now than soccer. No one watches that garbage.

[@anticlickbait]

Do you mean *A R G E N T I N A* ?

[@beastgaming1772]

Anticlickbait lol

[@danimartinez42]

Sampioli is the reason for that.

[@grantthomas4149]

HA! Goteeeeeeem!

[@2000shadowclaw]

Anticlickbait i actually hate everything because of that game

[@user-zb7eq8sc1y]

Your stupid

[@theoyancey]

You literally didn't answer the question lol

[@Lightningflamingice]

He did. While other countries could steadily build their national soccer teams, political infighting between the ASL and the NSFA led to American soccer resources (fans, players, teams) to being split and weakened. Over time, this has reduced the competitivity of soccer in America and as a result we haven't produced good players in a while.

[@whiplash3376]

Also because American teens can choose between Football, Baseball, Basketball, or Soccer. The most talented teens are obviously gonna choose the other sports. It’s the same reason men’s tennis in the United States isn’t what it used to be.

[@adrianpilipovic7828]

@@Lightningflamingice also because America does not take soccer seriously. kids in Europe start intense training with clubs at the ripe age of 16. and there are so much more of them.

[@CrypticParad0x]

This really doesn't explain it at all. It explains why they may have been shitty in the late 20s and 30s, but that was a damn century ago. It shouldn't have any actual affect on today. What matters is levels of interest and dedication among the populace. I think it's simply that, among American men, there are numerous other sports that take precedence over soccer. Football, Basketball, and Baseball all take up America's natural born athletes/ those with insane levels of dedication. Meanwhile, soccer is on the forefront of women's sports in the US. Similarly, soccer, or Futbol, is THE single biggest sport in essentially every other country in the world, so all of the natural athletes and those with the aspirations for athletic greatness kick a soccer ball rather than throw a football.

[@clikpoint]

DJApok wow this was extremely well-thought-out and intelligent. It's unfortunate that this is being wasted in the comment section of a Vox video but still I think you're on the right track.

[@charlesball9522]

I think this was the point of the video. We lost crucial years with infighting and the depression etc. which allowed the other sports to grow and be more popular. If the MLS could pay like football or basketball, and development of young players wasn't based on which kids have the most money, you'd see the quality go up.

[@nafis_zaki]

DJApok England and Australia are basically good at everything(at least they qualify). Name any sport and you will find they have a share in it.and they have a much smaller population than US US peeps are maybe uninterested in sports.(in general)

[@FOGSHIE]

How did you miss the point this hard? This video specifically goes into the cause of why “other sports take precedence over soccer”, exactly like you said.

[@salacommander2674]

Nafis Zaki That's true for most sports in the US too. Soccer is just the outlier.

[@thewoodseastofathens3698]

The best U.S. athletes are playing other sports. I don't know why that's so hard for SOCCER elitists to understand.

[@MrJosephdrummond]

you should have contacted someone at USASoccer. you would have learned that they have been pro-actively studying how other countries play soccer to try and catch up. it's a tough thing to admit when you are really bad, but they humbly have, and this is what they have learned: -in other countries, they play from birth. they simply kick balls before they can walk -they have no organized sports until age ten. they just play for fun, like we would do a video game, here we stimy creativity. -other countries are in better shape. not the athletes, the culture -in other countries, defenders get laid. they understand team play. here we chase highlights and stats -they PLAY it like it was a game, not to win. they enjoy ball control. american kids "practice" by standing around shooting when they should be running , dribbling, passing and defending. -we follow the money. the best agents, athletes, coaches, trainers, etc are steered away from soccer bc basketball, baseball and football make money for the 'program', be it a school, city, or team. football coaches make more than brain surgeons here. -the reasons are 100% cultural. we have more people, more money and every advantage, but we approach it wrong. we still have decades of mediocrity ahead of us.

[@cookedcelery4634]

Longest comment so far great job mate

[@Jack-hx7ei]

Also coaching. I’ve played as a youth on both sides of the Atlantic and in America if you don’t do something right you do sprints but in Europe you get back up and do it again. Although there is more discipline in America that is not how they are supposed to play soccer. Another thing is that many coaches yell terms that they know the meaning of but don’t know the application. Switch, time, man on, and hold are all done incorrectly. The coaches here try to teach individual skill rather than team coordination. Even on the professional level you can see people playing for stats. I can’t finish an America game just due to such poor ball movement. America has a lot of time before we can really start to compete again.

[@charleswarren4032]

And our best athletes are off playing real sports Soccer sucks.

[@GuGusTav]

charles warren That's what he meant by being a cultural problem. Football (aka soccer) is one of the most popular sports in the world. I mean, it's cool and all that you have preferences in terms of sports, but don't try to minimize it just because Americans (in general) don't like it that much.

[@garretphipps1626]

That’s correct, we breed athletes, not REAL soccer players.

[@joelontong7449]

What's this music?? It's horrid! I'm crying!

[@OngoingDiscovery]

This has got to be one of the most repetitive and monotonous comment sections on youtube

[@drfyhghjygyfth2454]

Yeah it's better just to not look

[@DavidAWA]

Geez, this youtube comment section is repetitive and monotonous.

[@shawklan27]

DavidAWA agreed

[@AndorranStairway]

Football was tough for yanks to understand, so they picked up the football, put on helmets, and made a game out of running into each other while holding the ball

[@peytonwalcott6755]

And hence was created the best sport known to mamkind

[@TheMoonManBGk]

@@peytonwalcott6755 if it was so good the us wasn’t the only country that played it

[@gibby6502]

"best sport" - more commercials than actual sport

[@peytonwalcott6755]

@@gibby6502 commercials has nothing to do how good a sport is. Just like you I hate the commercials and I think the NFL goes too far in trying to monetize the sport. However, the sport of football is the greatest on this planet, even if it’s professional league can go a bit overboard with commercials. The fact that the NFL is the most valuable sports league in the world is a testimony to the greatness of the sport at the professional level

[@AndorranStairway]

@@peytonwalcott6755 The entire reason why it’s the most valuable sports league in the world is due to the sheer commercialisation of it. Ads, toys, games, the list goes on. No one outside of North America cares about American football. Your definition of greatness is based upon money, and yet you claim you hate the ads. Don’t you see the irony in that? The very fact that people tune in to the Super Bowl to watch the HALF TIME show is testament to how little people care about the game itself

[@ZaxorVonSkyler]

50% of the comments are either shouting SOCCER or FOOTBALL!!!

[@comingtotank2764]

45% Soccer 45% Football 10% Fútbol

[@Andrew_-_-]

although the highlights and goals are cool, no sane person can sit through 90 minutes of people running back and forth on a field. Jesus id rather watch baseball (the American version of a boring sport).

[@jakobwaack4148]

It's such a dumb debate. Doesn't even matter what it's called it's going to be the same game

[@adnanilyas6368]

CALCIO

[@bvalgru1802]

Andrew Simoes “no sane person” 80% of the football fans sit and watch for 90 minutes

[@bmbm1]

Cuz steroids don't help you win in football if you don't have the skill

[@BKDBut]

Sun Tzu Sure they do. Because the #1 thing steroids do is aid in recovery and healing injuries. Pull a hamstring playing soccer? Take steroids. Help the healing process. What a completely moot point in general. You clearly don't know much about steroids or their usage.

[@malayu3802]

David Butler it doesn't matter if you are injury prone. If you don't have the skills then you can't win.

[@dawidchoi3756]

well they can help to some extent

[@ammarally3055]

@@malayu3802 you realize steroids don't help in basketball and they the best at basketball right

[@supahdupahguy81]

David Butler it's not a moot point. Taking PED's will not magically make you better at kicking a football accurately. It's a technical motor function that takes years of honing & practice.

[@StuffTube]

Plus there is less competition for women... other countries hardly have women programs.

[@liamprentice2913]

Yeah, they aren't better.

[@isabellahernandez7192]

Only European and a few Asian countries invest in the women’s programs

[@evanyoung6993]

A u15 Ukrainian team beat our woman’s soccer team

[@TomMisaki745]

Yep. Nobody cares women football in Europe

[@TomMisaki745]

@zulfikangga nope. Nobody cares in Spain about women football. In Spain they said "el fútbol femenino ni es fútbol ni es femenino" In english=femenine football is not football and is not femenine

[@gt5228z]

American athletes hardly take soccer seriously. This isn't to say that they shouldn't, rather I'm just stating a fact. Largely, soccer in the USA is a kid's sport. Almost everyone's 1st sport is soccer. This is because it's a very safe way to establish athletic fundamentals at an early age that are applied to other sports. Once American children get older, they get passionate about other sports like baseball, basketball, hockey, or football.

[@henryheisenberg]

yes! soccer is like 5 or 6th on the options list for the top young athletes in america.

[@bc8714]

0:32 Is it possible for you to get a laptop with an even dirtier screen.

[@iartstudios9143]

Ha I noticed that

[@cinematiccatastrophe8338]

Plenty of college students I go to school with have never contemplated the idea of cleaning their screens (uncivilized monsters).

[@unsungheroes9140]

Omg I didn't even notice it. Hahaha

[@ednelson2501]

If you go to any European country; the 13 year old boys, who are athletically gifted, are playing soccer. The best ones stay with soccer and become pro's. If you look at the American 13 year old. The athletically gifted ones are playing Basketball, baseball or American football. The super athletic kids play what they watch on TV. All the kids in the States want to be like LeBron. Like most young teens, they want the riches. Fame and everything that comes with it. Soccer is widely seen as a secondary sport. If 90 % of the gifted kids in schools in England want to become soccer players. Only a few make it. In the States 90% want to play Baseball, only a few make it. But the choice becomes between American Football and European football, The only kids that play soccer are the ones that cant make the teams for the other sports. It is very much a second option in the USA. The best kids wouldn't be caught dead playing soccer. The money and fame are in the NFL. So where do the best teenage athletes go ? It certainly isn't the soccer pitches. That is why the USA will always " suck " at soccer. The best athletic kids dont play.

[@ednelson2501]

I am an American guy that lives in the UK. I see the way they focus 100 % on soccer. " Its the biggest sport in the world " is a comment I hear often. What I can say is' The American sports system is second to none. Look at the Olympics. The NCAA college sports system is by far , better than anything else the world has to offer. The 20 year old that has no money; can still compete on a high level running track. Via the NCAA Track and Field events. There is very little collegiate level sports in the UK. There is some, but it isn't well funded. It isn't big; like NCAA football. Or should we go into the NCAA college basketball ? It has only been the last 15 or 20 years that UEFA has had " The Champions League " I heard the same chit at work. " You guys have nothing like this " I didn't have the heart to mention the NCAA basketball tourney. Sports playoffs are relatively new here; So I don't say too much about it.

[@supahdupahguy81]

tam hill "I didn't have the heart to mention the NCAA basketball tourney. " That doesn't even remotely compare to the Champions League. Not by a long shot. It's barely even comparable to the FA Cup.

[@ednelson2501]

supahdupahguy : I am not comparing skill levels. I am referring to the organizational aspects of the tourney. We are not going to, for a second, compare 20 year old collegiate players with the worlds top soccer players. Look at the way the tourneys are run. Look at the NCAA basketball tournament. It has 64 teams, they play teams that are seeded ( not drawn out of a hat ) single elimination games. ~ Loose and go home. Win and you live to fight another day. . That is the comparison I was pointing at. I wasn't comparing a 25 year old man who is one of the best in the world ; against some 19 year old ; who made the team. It is 100 % obvious that there is ZERO comparison there. But the comparison is the way the tournament is run. The NCAA was doing it in the 1950's. Who wants to see Barcelona playing Juve in the first round ? Answer : nobody. The Finals or semis would be fine. It is just that picking from pots A, B. C .D .... is similar to the way the NCAA basketball is drawn. Except they have been doing it since the '50s And every team is seeded. In the FA Cup, ( which is a good tournament ) You can have Man City playing Chelsea in the second round. Who wants to see that ? The not only should seed the teams; they have to. Even seed the top 8 or 16 teams. Like a tennis tourney, Nobody wants to see Nadal - Djoko in the first round.

[@supahdupahguy81]

tam hill I wasn't trying to compare skill levels either (would be pointless to do so considering they're different sports), but the UCL/European Cup has always had a form of seeding, whether that meant making teams from lower ranked leagues play in preliminary rounds, or the coefficient system you have today. Every team who has ever taken part in one of UEFA's official continental tournaments has a coefficiency ranking. The UCL/EC has also been running since 1955. "In the FA Cup, ( which is a good tournament ) You can have Man City playing Chelsea in the second round. Who wants to see that ?" I think that depends on the tournament. Whilst i can certainly see an argument for keeping good teams apart in the UCL, the FA Cup is a slightly different kettle of fish. I think every other supporter of clubs who were in the FA Cup 2nd round would probably quite like to see Man City & Chelsea draw each other as it would mean one team with a chance of winning it would be eliminated, increasing the chances of progress for every other team left in the cup. As i'm sure you're aware, the FA Cup takes particular pride in branding itself as an unpredictable knockout cup where big teams can occasionally be eliminated by smaller ones (it happens at least once to someone every season), so i feel the random draw suits the cup quite well. In fact it's one of the few things it has going for it left after the FA all but got rid of replays completely, & forced all semi-finals to be played at Wembley instead of neutral club venues like they used to be.

[@ednelson2501]

Supahdupahguy : I didnt know they had a seeding system. I always watched them draw teams from the bubble on TV. And I agree that is good for the smaller clubs to see Arsenal play Tottenham. One of them is going out. It gives the Wolves guys something to root for. The different divisions are a solid idea. One up and one down every year. Then in steps the second bottom team from div 2 playing the second top from div 3. That is a great idea. And it brings in a full house gate for the smaller clubs. Some of the lesser clubs rely on the big gate from the big team cup games. I guess both ways are good . And both ways have their bad sides also. A small squad knows they can rely on switching the game to London and cashing in. In a way they could not do if they feel that they have a chance to play next round also. Because without seeding they may play " minnows " again next round and have a chance to win. With seeding they know they are playing a " Powerhouse " next round and the chances of winning are ; at best slim. Do you think it is advantageous for the bigger teams in a seeding situation ? It has to be, But I have seen that all my life and am used to it. I am 100 % used to seeing The University of North Carolina Tar Heels seeded 2nd in their bracket. And playing " Chitty " teams for a couple of games. ( ncaa basketball ) You would be used to seeing the random seeding and will appreciate The Liverpool - Everton game in round 1. Where as I see that as a game that should be played later in the tourney. I guess it is what you are used to. Without seeded teams there are more chances for a few big games early in the tourney. But with seeding there are more chances for the big games later on in the tourney.

[@abdelghanibelaoura7665]

Visual editing is all over the place

[@ardui-soft1637]

the audio editing is horrible

[@WeicherKeks]

one of the worst professionally made videos I've ever seen on YT - music- and graphics-wise

[@mochithepooh5368]

Once my father told me a story about America and Soccer. Once America ask FIFA to make the goal bigger so there is a lot more goal in the game.

[@katakisLives]

Not so long ago, I heard that one in the 90's

[@vaanichills3780]

Lmao

[@sunlimestudios]

Your English bad.

[@teethgrinder83]

I don’t think it was in the 90,s, I’m sure it was more closer to your time but yep it’s true-they wanted more points/goals so they asked that. Don’t know the in and outs of it all but it’s really. Imagine it worked and FIFA did mess with the goals etc....it would be rioting in a LOT of places I think. They didn’t/don’t understand that the low scoring is part of what makes it so exciting-“1 all draw,we’re into extra time-can they get that goal before the whistle!?”-whereas in American football it seems to be more about the spectacle than the game for most people

[@NyantoDesu]

Probably has something to do with the average scores in the US' most popular sports

[@kamara6392]

Bruh the music is random 😭😭😭😭😭😭

[@MonkeyDLuffy-zb9cf]

I'm curious if that last shot was a goal or not...

[@Michaelonyoutub]

Same. I looked like it might have the right spin to curve the right way but it might over curve and i dont know whether it had the power

[@abcdef-wl8eu]

Im guessing you guys are both american because when you 'shoot' from their with no goalie your probably aiming for the crossbar not to score

[@jeanettethomas5806]

Monkey D. Luffy I was thinking it was a continuation of the first shot they showed, like looping back around, which hit the goal post.

[@Matt-fu8kn]

abc def Being American has nothing to do with anything either of them just said. They just wondered if the ball ended up in the back of the net. Stop regurgitating lazy narratives.

[@Michaelonyoutub]

it isnt the first shot since that was from the edge of the near penalty box, the last one was from the other side of the field, and also from that far you wouldnt be aiming for anything specific like the crossbar since it would be difficult enough to kick it that far and for it to go in, at least for a non pro player.

[@fazegodzilla4163]

The secret to be good is to stop calling this game soccer but « football », then you will be better. From France 🇫🇷😉

[@BringbetweenBern]

before football it was called soccer everywhere else until the other countries changed the names

[@fazegodzilla4163]

@@BringbetweenBern Maybe but football is better

[@ez2236]

I think it because as children were shown sports such as baseball, football, etc. not soccer, most American parents sign there 5-7 year olds up for main sports and we grow up loving those sports not soccer

[@shashanuka8915]

E Z seriously, I grew up in America and didn’t realize soccer was an actual sport till I was 11yrs old. And That’s only because I had lots of Hispanic friends who loved it.

[@_hector__]

Futbol is a bigger sport than all of those, it should be considered a "main sport" by you.

[@ZaStacher]

Calabi-Yau Manifold But it's not here in America....

[@uzimonkey]

This was my understanding as well. I don't even remember a soccer team in elementary school, and there was one in high school but no one cared. Hardly anyone went to the games and the serious athletes in my class were playing baseball, football and basketball. Soccer was one of the minor sports like lacrosse or field hockey. It's also just not popular. I have to remind myself that we actually have professional soccer teams because growing up you just never heard about them and the games were never on TV. Bottom line is that no one was growing up wanting to be a soccer player.

[@lebronharden7794]

uzimonkey i love soccer and play it and I live in America

[@xtlm]

USA's top athletes go to other sports. That's the reason.

[@JustFun-fe7ux]

xtlm youre big basketball athletes wouldn’t even be good footballers.

[@littleknownperfection694]

@@JustFun-fe7ux Dude basketball athletes are considered the best athletes in the world im not kidding, as for if they'd be good at soccer/football idk some might be but they're all so tall idk if that translates well.

[@JustFun-fe7ux]

Little Known Perfection You dont just need to be a good athlete to be a good footballer. Messi would never ever be a basketball player but in my opinion hes the greatest of all time.

[@cihattekin562]

This is bullshit. Football is mostly skill and talent, that you can tell even from childhood. athleticism isn't the first priority

[@Enthos2]

@@cihattekin562 is that why aging footballers who aren't as athletic have to come to the MLS because they aren't good enough anymore? what, do you think they just lost their "skill" as they got older?

[@wisxper]

Dele Ali passes to Kane and erm America kicks it in their own net

[@bebeezle581]

Lol English football is better Go Tottenham Hotspur

[@vvalentine7848]

Haha, Chelsea

[@SM-ys8lw]

@@bebeezle581 no American football is better, we have scoring and hard hitting, a lot of skill move and positions

[@bebeezle581]

@@SM-ys8lw uh you mean the one using the hands? i get it

[@bilaal969]

@@SM-ys8lw only Americans watch that sport

[@aaronchif]

1- They call it soccer 2- They call it soccer 3- They call it soccer

[@lechevalieraubrasmetalliqu2647]

No football not soccer

[@theboyz7543]

Its soccer

[@nickn9244]

Soccer

[@cosmicter7647]

I'm just stuck here wondering what the point of this video was.

[@de132]

Why does the United States struggle in men's Association Football? Lack of history and experience. Why does the United States succeed in Women's Association Football? The rest of the world generally was also behind in history and experience.

[@clikpoint]

To once again try to make Americans feel bad about being Americans. If Vox hates America so much I wish they would just leave

[@gerrygnu1]

Structure the MLS with teams promoted and relegated at the end of each season. Then you can measure true growth.

[@DeshaunIsAmazing]

For some reason the US Women’s soccer team is just PHENOMENAL

[@benjiselje4015]

DeshaunIsAmazing the men's team would destroy them just other countries suck at women's soccer

[@isaacasamoa927]

Its bcoz girls Soccer is taken more seriously to point that most Americans think its a girls sport

[@gtaclevelandcity]

Isaac Asamoa like vollyball and softball

[@LisaNarozhnykh]

I feel like the USA is a parallel world the more I find our. I live in Germany and Football is like the sickest thing ever here

[@TheKurtkapan34]

because rest of the world hardly care about women's football. I don't even know if my own country has a national team.

[@tlam3028]

In America soccer is typically seen as a game you play when you are younger. It’s a game that you play before you move onto a more serious American sport such as basketball or American football

[@favouredwolf7055]

A more serious AMERICAN sport, though those sports aren't at all serious as compared to how they play soccer in Europe, South America, and other regions of the world.

[@esthersue3403]

@@favouredwolf7055 yes it’s serious in a specific country what do u wanna say

[@favouredwolf7055]

@@esthersue3403 Well as this sport is by far the biggest it would be beneficial in many ways for the US to play it. It is indeed the most serious sport that takes the most skill.

[@favouredwolf7055]

@@fatdingo8251 yes its true

[@MartimCorreia10]

@@fatdingo8251 yes even NFL players get amazed by footballers skill

[@krisgotit7877]

Don’t forget black Americans are not playing

[@CanYouResistClick1ng]

Hue hue hue

[@bryanpena7268]

They dont play cuz they suck at football so they stick to american football and basketball

[@krisgotit7877]

🤔 So...you mean to tell me if LeBron James Julio Jones Anthony Davis Odell Beckham Jr was to have the same love for Soccer comparable to that of the sports they play They wooden dominate international soccer🤣

[@tori9365]

Bryan Pena they suck at it because they don't play it. Soccer just isn't a big sport in America. And I'm glad it's not... besides golf, it's the most boring sport I've ever seen 😂 soccer sucks! The real football is American football 😎

[@jyashin]

Kris got it They would probably be terrible in soccer if they had chosen it instead of basketball and football. Lebron and Davis are too tall to be good soccer players - their height is a serious liability unless they're playing goalie. Julio Jones is a North-South runner; soccer would actually prefer slot receivers like Edelman or Welker. Odell has the highest chance of being good, but his attitude and lack of concentration are big concerns.

[@EvilPumpkin]

Just naturalize some Brazilians as France did with the Africans in 2018 and there you go, a solid team.

[@alexanderchristopher6237]

I think Mexico would be a better comparison. Spanish is already pretty commonly spoken in America, compared to Brazil's Portugese. France got talents from former French colonies in Africa. And Mexico is also a good talent pool.

[@cinematiccatastrophe8338]

Evil pumpkin you joke about that but the USA actually tried that already in 2014 with Germans, John Brooks the American hero whose goal help lift USA over Ghana and ultimately past the group stages into the elimination round was born in Berlin, Germany and has never lived in America ever. Jermaine Jones who was a pivotal player for us that year and scored a crucial goal in the game against Portugal was born in Frankfurt, Germany and lived most of his childhood there. Fabian Johnson was born in Munich, Germany and had been with Germany's U-21 squad even helping Germany win the 2009 U-21 UEFA Championship. He then suddenly joined team USA and was a driving force for us that world cup, Julien Green who also scored one of our goals was a German national who played for Germany's U-19 team and when it was becoming clear he would not likely ever make the Senior German national team he switched over to the USA. The USA scored a total of 5 goals in the 2014 World Cup: 2 were by Clint Dempsey and the rest were made by these "Germericans" 1 by Jermaine Jones, 1 by John Brooks, and 1 by Julien Green. Now the United States are genuinely a nation of immigrants and all these guys do have US citizenship but it is funny how that worked out.

[@huwenkai440]

Naturalization isn't a good idea overall. Just take China, we are naturalizing many Brazilians but the success isn't bearing much.

[@jorgeandrespalma2134]

Yeah, well... Brazilians will probably choose to play with Brazil's national team instead of US. Better team overall, better region (CONMEBOL instead of CONCACAF). With African players it's the opposite (and many of those "Africans" were actually born in France). Only Brazilians with poor performance (not enough to fit Brazil standards) will choose to play for US, but then again, you're not getting the top players.

[@huwenkai440]

@@jorgeandrespalma2134 This is what I also said of.

[@SpJrD]

USA soccer team⁉️ Never heard of them 🤔

[@christopherlamberson1242]

J you haven’t been watching international soccer then

[@ladysafiyya1587]

It's irritating when you get Americans commenting on 'football' spaces on social media where fans are discussing and they say, "It's just soccer!". Can they at least say "football"? Ugh.

[@maninthepit]

Chris Lamberson lol wtf kind of channel are the us on

[@dothemaths1256]

How about we call American football soccer

[@justclancy1151]

Do the Maths good idea

[@tbonico]

Calling football a sport that play the ball with the hands, and soccer when you play with the feet. Nonsensical

[@ItsXavierr]

Where you from?

[@muradsawalha3121]

Thank the u.k. Do more research there is so much more history then what um saying.

[@lettuceman9439]

go watch the video of the late brain4breakfast he will provide a more informative and stylistic video than this while also delving in the reasons why in some countries football also didnt work.

[@ubercat1260]

It's called football because the ball is a foot long.

[@SeraphsWitness]

We didn't do that. Britain did. It was made to distinguish Rugby from Soccer in the early 1800s in England. It standardized rules. Rugby ("Rugger") was one form of football, and "Association Football" ("Soccer" for short) was another form. Europe invented the word. Not America. Modern American football evolved from Rugby.

[@nicholasbaum8776]

It doesn't matter what you call the sport, what matters is the development, the fan base, the youth, popularity, and other sports.

[@Hyde1Soten]

Was in the US last two weeks, I saw soccer everywhere there, even in the middle of freaking Missisippi some people asked about the world cup, was quite surprised! The games were even in bars everywhere... Yes it's only every 4 years, but I'm sure there's hope for US Soccer.

[@grahamroberts242]

Where they really

[@davehart9972]

@@grahamroberts242 literally no one was watching it in this part of the USA.

[@ryukiT3]

I wonder why Canadian men's soccer sucks too..the women team is up there with American women.

[@Scottsdaleofficesteve]

Because hockey and baseball are more popular

[@itsyaboychipsahoy.7989]

Cuz America and Canada actually care about women soccer.

[@BOLPutube]

That Dapper Alpaca It is in Toronto

[@cookedcelery4634]

man what u talkin about with yo canadian snowman head ah boi

[@Rodrgo1997]

Pretty simple, they have a big focus on women football (unlike most of the rest of the world, where it is not popular). For the men’s is just the structure of the US leagues, plus the rest of the world do care. Also is hard to know if women’s football quality is good at all since the sport itself is not valued in many countries, especially in smaller ones.

[@aarentanwheilung9384]

The fact that Americans call it soccer explains why America can never do well in football.

[@AltCTRLF8]

our women seem to do ok with soccer.

[@SebastianGomez-uj8iu]

They just started investing into the soccer system. It's still in the early stages of the process. It will take some more time for the USA to have the chance to have great homegrown players. Also remember in some nations women's sports are not important and aren't given any attention. Here we have programs that help sports become accessible to anyone.

[@Okieant]

Soccer is a rich kid's sport right now. Until you make it cheap for our best athletes to pick up the sport when young, it won't matter how much they invest.

[@SebastianGomez-uj8iu]

Elvis Maduro it's not. There are many programs that help bring kids to sports. From scholarships to programs with the YMCA, there many ways to help any kid into a sport. You don't have to be rush to play this sport. Anyone can play it. I know at times certain clubs need payment but can always get help with the cost. If you really think this is a rich person sport, I have no idea what you think of polo.

[@SebastianGomez-uj8iu]

fabi_87 you're right. There a lot of rich sports in the world. This isn't up there

[@Masiyooo]

Fabi I think he mean that it's a rich kid's sport in USA, not in the rest of the world. Which I have no idea whether that's true or not, but I think that's what he is saying

[@mattykevlee]

You've been in about half of them, you just choose to excel in sports that are only really popular in your own country.

[@martinmauleon2025]

“(Well, the men)” lol the USA national women’s team got beat by a Under 15 boys team from Texas

[@cellocase7148]

Scotland is part of Britain. Jeez

[@jamesculton8058]

Cello Case yeah ano that annoyed me too

[@hmidlashkham5552]

England and Scotland have separate football federations

[@ketem878]

Long version: Watch the video Short version: They call football, soccer.

[@alex-lk1pq]

the women’s team lost to a bunch of 15 year olds

[@kie1878]

Which one?

[@zujaayy799]

@@kie1878 newcastle jets under16s

[@jarvis1777]

MxLuminous Kids form my generation, 😂 trust me they are dedicated to this sport like 100% dedicated these kids will none stop playing at school with not goal and there’s no net or anything just a. Bunch of kids playing and one goalie with his gloves , it gets interesting trust me 😂 and then it’ll be 100 ° and these kids will not stop playing

[@dogemaster4228]

@@zujaayy799 Dallas U15s

[@aeiresslumpkin4866]

Chelsea lost to their youth team, your point?

[@JaswiL-_51]

10k triggered americans

[@abigailonstott5665]

Jason Wilbert i disliked because of the misleading title

[@scopetcro5975]

Storm Its not misleading in any way

[@abigailonstott5665]

Scopet Cro not really misleading but just annoying

[@gorillaman6827]

Storm is it because it says men suck

[@scopetcro5975]

Storm I know that you are an American,but those are just the facts dude :P You have your own sports and you are good at them.Soccer is just not one of them.

[@ahmaddabous5740]

Vox: *does effort to explain with info* Also Vox: Ctrl C this video and Ctrl V but change America to Canada. Boom no difference

[@yahyafati]

6:50 It's kind of funny that they even missed to smash the pie properly 🤣🤣🤣

[@haroldberserker]

They were prolly planning on eating it

[@lj7169]

Completely missed it like all their world cup shots 😂😂😂

[@armondxyz]

For the people that keep saying "it's called football stupid Americans"; The word "soccer" comes from the use of the term "association football" in Britain and goes back 200 years. In the early 1800s, a bunch of British universities took "football" - a medieval game - and started playing their own versions of it, all under different rules. To standardize things across the country, these games were categorized under different organizations with different names. In America we have a thing called Football which others might know as the sport with pads that you hit people somewhat like rugby. We won't change the name unless "soccer" takes over popularity of american football. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and most of Asian countries.

[@armondxyz]

**Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and most of Asian countries call it soccer as well.

[@armondxyz]

Aren Däumler there is no factual evidence more or less just different opinions. They said that it just deprived from the word Association Football. I still call it football even though being American but since I watch the sport more than American football

[@mateosanfitz9625]

So? call it football

[@RetroCheater81]

www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/06/the-origin-of-the-word-soccer/

[@reubenwills9757]

mondo schneider of soccer is short for association, guess you left out the FOOTBALL part of the original name LMAO

[@ProjectMartyr]

This video did absolutely nothing to justify why US mens soccer sucks. There is less attention around soccer as a whole in the US compared to any other sport played in the US. Look at coverage compared to NFL and NBA compared to MLS and look how the US dominates in those two sports on an international stage. Now look at teams that dominate every World Cup and you'll see widespread coverage of those teams respective football/soccer leagues, just like NFL and NBA in the US. It's about exposure and creating an interest. The USA took to American football, basketball, and baseball and athletes are training to get into those sports at much higher rates than soccer. Another thing that needed to be looked at that wasn't, was how incredibly steep the mens World Cup qualifying is. Teams like Italy, which one 4 World Cups didn't even make it this time around. Netherlands, which have been rising these last few World Cups missed 2018. They place 3rd in 2014. People are spending way too much time comparing what the Woman's team has done rather than actually look at what has got in the Men's teams way. And that's the insanely strong competition they're up against. 3.4 million were in attendance at the 2014 Men's World Cup. 1.3 were in attendance at the 2015 Woman's World Cup. Use that bit of info and refer back to the exposure point made in the first paragraph.

[@quirijnv6793]

Agree on the first part, but you can't compare CONCACAF to the UEFA qualifiers. Italy and Holland didn't make it, partly because their good generation stopped, and partly because almost every team in Europe is at least decent. (excluding microstates like Luxemburg) CONCACAF is a dwarf league with one big fish and one medium. Countries like Costa Rica and Panama should be a cakewalk if we're being honest.

[@saral2427]

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh why did you spend so much time writing that when you could be playing fortnite

[@namanediabi7400]

Sara Lignell exactly bro omega lol 😂😂

[@Valpo2004]

Fairly accurate, I didn't know all the history behind it but in the US development of future pros is done by colleges and high schools which all have men's and women's teams. In Europe development was done by the pro teams themselves which meant that while the men got the absolute best development system, women were ignored because there wasn't any money in it.

[@spanicandkgyo8547]

It's because USA are playing soccer while everyone else is playing football

[@drda1626]

Gets a 20 million dollar grant from KZbin and still can’t edit a video smoothly

[@Nat-gh2tt]

Our best athletes play football, basketball, and baseball. Plus there's not a lot of money to be made in MLS and the odds of an American kid making it in Europe is extremely difficult.

[@Doublefatcheese]

Barbados Joe you guys till lost to Trinidad and Tobago. A country with a population 300 times smaller LOL

[@blackearl7891]

We lost in the baseball tournament as well. We have never won the championship. We dont compete against anyone except ourselves in football.

[@xxxbroncfan202]

blackearl7891 come on, we lost baseball "tournaments" and by that I assume you mean the olympics back in the day right? Well that is only because the MLB teams refused to let their players leave the team in the middle of the season to play in the olympics so the US team only consisted of college players typically between the ages of 18-20 year olds.

[@Nat-gh2tt]

Ryan Again our kids grow up wanting to be the next Tom Brady and LeBron James, not Lionel Messi.

[@floopyjoe500]

It’s not our fault we call it soccer! I would love to start calling it football but it causes confusion between sports if we call it football so it’s just easier to call it soccer.

[@dann_playsow5811]

floopyjoe500 I respect your honesty so instead of calling you a stupid amarican il give you some help. Instead of calling it football(amarican) why not just call it amarican rugby and call soccer football?

[@floopyjoe500]

If I said american rugby I can guarantee that they would think im talking about normal rugby. I am in no postion to change a word that we have been using for years, even though I would love too.

[@isaaczaiek487]

Dann_PlaysOW that's a good idea

[@kaktotak8267]

Everyone in the world calls it handegg when they don't need to sound official. It's a dumb marginal sport anyway, so who cares.

[@eleSDSU]

floopyjoe500 Completely wrong, that is how languages evolve, you just start using a word, then more people do it and voilá, you have changed the name of something. The truth is that you don't want to, you could call it "eggball", "handegg", "padded easy rugby" or "states football".

[@concacaf3898]

The men are doing better, are you going to make a video about them?

[@concacaf3898]

Another video?