World Cup fans embrace American culture during the tournament
Host Aisha Hasnie and Pakinomist contributor Joe Concha explore the unique cultural experiences of foreign fans attending the FIFA World Cup in the United States. They showcase viral social media posts by fans discovering American staples like Waffle House and Big Gulps. A heartwarming video also shows Scotland fans celebrating their team by serenading a New England neighborhood with bagpipes.
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The US men’s national team beat Paraguay in its first World Cup game at home since 1994, drawing a reported crowd of 70,492 at Los Angeles Stadium (SoFi Stadium). It was a clinic, a spectacle and perhaps the most encouraging performance many American soccer fans have seen in their lives. The numbers on the scoreboard were impressive, and as it turns out, the viewership numbers Fox Sports just released were, too.
Team USA fans were out in full force to watch the US Men’s National Team play World Cup soccer on American soil for the first time in 32 years. (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT / AFP))
On Saturday, Fox Sports announced that the 4-1 win over Paraguay was the “most-watched USMNT men’s FIFA World Cup broadcast in English-language US history” with an astounding 15.986 million viewers. The team showed up and the Americans followed suit.
WATCH THE WC FINAL ON FOX ONE
To put this into perspective, the 2022 USMNT group stage opener against Wales averaged around 11.7 million viewers in the US. That’s a whopping 106% increase in viewership. The highest viewership during Friday’s round was 18.86 million. We should have expected a rise in viewing figures with the excitement of playing at home and one of the best men’s teams constructed on paper, but this was historic.
Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs reportedly averaged just over 16 million viewers. That means the USMNT wasn’t far behind the biggest sporting event in America at the moment — an impressive feat for a soccer game, even one played on home soil during a World Cup.
FOX ONE’S NEW WORLD CUP WATCHING EXPERIENCE
Folarin Balogun scored two goals in his first World Cup game for the USA. (Getty Images)
If the team puts together another impressive performance against Australia on Friday, expect plenty of Americans who don’t normally follow soccer that closely to jump on the bandwagon and start feeling the patriotism coursing through their veins.
This is also an incredible opportunity to grow soccer in the United States, help Major League Soccer attract new fans and make some of these players household names. The NHL capitalized on the momentum created by the 4 Nations Face-Off and the international competition. MLS would be wise to do the same.
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The USMNT will play Australia at 3:00 PM ET on Friday, June 19 at Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington.
