In every society, there are many different things and many differences in common but there is one thing that links us all. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. Soccer is a sport that is played in every continent in the world. Also, soccer is the one and only sport without borders. Soccer has grown and still is growing throughout the world. Soccer is the most interesting sport because its skills are impressive. The game consists …show more content…
Soccer. The organization governs all levels of soccer in the country, including the national teams, professional leagues, and the amateur game. With more than 14 million Americans playing soccer in the United States, soccer is the fourth most played team sport in the U.S., behind basketball, American football and baseball/softball. The popularity of soccer in the U.S. has been growing since the 1960s and 1970s, and received a significant boost when the United States hosted the 1994 World Cup. In the United States, the sport of association football is mainly referred to as "soccer", as the term "football" is primarily used to refer to the sport of American football (History of soccer in the United States). According to “History of Soccer”, the highest professional soccer league in the U.S. is Major League Soccer. MLS began play in 1996 with 10 teams, and has grown to 20 teams (17 in the United States and 3 in Canada), with further expansion planned. The MLS season runs from March to December, with the regular-season winner awarded the Supporters' Shield and the post-season winner awarded the MLS Cup. With an average attendance of over 18,000 per game, MLS has the third highest average attendance of any sports league in the U.S, and is the seventh highest attended professional soccer league …show more content…
The annual ESPN sports poll has shown soccer as the fourth most popular team sport in the United States every year since overtaking hockey in 2006; as of 2011, 8.2% of Americans rank soccer as their favorite sport (compared to 3.8% for hockey). A 2012 Harris Interactive poll showed soccer to be the fifth favorite team sport, with 2% of Americans ranking soccer as their favorite (compared to 5% for hockey). A 2011 ESPN sports poll ranked soccer as the second most popular sport in the country for 12-24-year-olds. In 2013, Lionel Messi became the first soccer player ever to rank among the Top 10 most popular athletes in the U.S in an ESPN poll, although he was not listed in the Top 10 in a Harris poll. (History of soccer in the United