The FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar will take place this November, and it will include 32 teams. Since this competition takes place once every 4 years, it shouldn’t be surprising that billions will watch it from the comfort of their homes. In fact, some sources claim that the Qatar 2022 World Cup will be watched by around 5 Billion people, which is jaw-dropping.
As impressive as it may be, according to www.jaxkidsdirectory.com, only 25% of adults in the U.S. will follow the 2022 FIFA World Cup. “This number is a lot lower than I anticipated. Albeit soccer may not be the leading sport in the country, I expected U.S. sports fans to be more interested in it. After all, the U.S. is one of the countries that will play in Qatar”, said Kristiyan, Nostrabet’s expert.
60% of U.S. adults who participated in the survey say they will not follow the World Cup in Qatar. The remaining 15% don’t know yet or simply do not fall into the other two categories. These results may surprise some people, considering that soccer is the third most-played sport in the country.
There are many reasons why adults in the U.S. are not that interested in the most important soccer tournament. Many sports fans are most likely interested in learning additional details about them, so let’s begin.
Soccer is not as popular as other sports in the country
The United States is a place with millions of sports fans. Even though the number of people who like soccer grows yearly, this sport is not as popular as others
Most of you should not be surprised that American sports fans prefer watching other kinds of sports. In addition to American football, many people like basketball, baseball, ice hockey, and so on. U.S. sports fans also watch boxing, tennis, and many other individual sports.
Interestingly, soccer is growing in popularity, and some sources claim it is the 3rd most-played sport in the country. The premier soccer league is called the Major League Soccer, and it was home to many world-class players. This includes Pelé, David Beckham, Theirry Henry, Wayne Rooney, David Villa, Kaká, and more. Most of them played at the end of their professional careers.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar will take place near Christmas
Even though this year’s FIFA World Cup starts on November 20, the final will take place on December 18. Technically, there is still a week after this for Christmas, but the fact that this event is so close to one of the biggest holidays in the United States will have an effect on its popularity.
Americans are known for not having many opportunities to take a break from working. Of course, Christmas is one of those holidays that brings families together, which means that most people will want to spend as much time with them as possible. Albeit the fact that the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar will be the biggest soccer event of the year, it seems like U.S. sports fans prefer to spend time with their friends and family.
The U.S. is not among the top countries when it comes to international soccer
The United States of America is known for having one of the best basketball teams in the world. With players like LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant, and more, the country is in a league of its own. Of course, the U.S. is also among the leading nations in boxing, tennis, swimming, ice hockey, etc.
Sadly, this is not the case when it comes down to international soccer. Albeit the MLS was home to some of the world’s top players near the end of their careers, the U.S. soccer team is yet to win a big international championship.
If we look at the FIFA World Cup, we can see that the best result for the U.S. men’s national soccer team was in 1930. This was the country’s first appearance, and finished in third place.Not that many goals
One of the exciting reasons why 65% of the adults in the USA won’t follow the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar is related to soccer itself and the fact that teams usually do not score a lot of goals. Although there have been many exceptions, such as the match between Brazil and Germany in 2014, where we saw 8 goals, most events are not like that.
This may not seem like a problem for people from other countries, but it has an effect on Americans. When comparing soccer to popular sports, such as basketball, we can see a massive difference regarding points/goals. On top of that, the matches in these sports always have a winner, whereas this is not true for soccer.
Even though the FIFA World Cup is the biggest soccer tournament, there are no pauses for ads
Everyone interested in popular U.S. sports knows that they are full of ads. Whether you watch baseball or American football, you will see that each event has at least a couple of breaks. Most of them are just a few minutes apart, which allows TV broadcasters to run ads.
Although some sports fans do not like those things, it seems like the majority of people in the U.S. are used to them. The bad news for them is that soccer is different, and there are no such things. Sure, you might see tons of ads once halftime arrives, but the referee won’t stop the game in the middle of the first or second half for a pause.
The fact that fans can watch 45 minutes of non-interrupted play is great for some but bad for others. Most sports fans in the USA are used to watching ads, and they even have a special role in events, such as the Super Bowl.
The USA’s team for the FIFA World Cup 2022 does not have a big superstar
The last reason most adults in the USA do not intend to follow the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar is that the team does not have a big superstar. This has always been a problem because the U.S. never had the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi.
That said, the country’s soccer team has a lot of players that are part of major European clubs. Giovanni Reyna, for example, plays for Borussia Dortmund, whereas Christian Pulisic is a part of Chelsea. In other words, the U.S. has a pretty good team that can challenge some of the best.
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The U.S. soccer team in Qatar 2022
As mentioned, the U.S. men’s soccer team is one of the 32 FIFA World Cup participants. Following the draft, the team is in Group B, where it will go up against England, Iran, and Wales.
Even though England is definitely the heavy favourite in the group, the U.S. has the chance to finish second and advance to the round of 16. Judging from FIFA’s official Men’s soccer ranking, the USA is 16th. On the other hand, Wales is 19th, whereas Iran is just behind them in the 20th spot.
While it is true that the match versus England will be difficult, the U.S. has what it takes to defeat the other two teams in the group. A victory against either will have an impact on the FIFA World Cup 2022’s popularity in the country. As a result, more people may decide to follow the event.
The first match for the USA will be against Wales, and it will take place on November 21. The Americans have to win this clash because their second match is against England, the favourites in Group B.
