The 2026 FIFA World Cup is hitting the United States at the perfect time for soccer, as the sport has reportedly overtaken baseball as the third-most popular among Americans, trailing only football and basketball.
Soccer’s rise, according to a recent survey conducted by The Economist, is in part due to the continued growth of Major League Soccer, the U.S. women’s national team's continued success and the nation's financial strength as a market for the four most significant European leagues.
