With 21 professional leagues, 243 teams, 265 MILLION players, 3.2 BILLION fans, and stretching across 200 countries, football-or soccer here in American culture (sigh), is truly a universal lingua franca.
Soccer, football, or fútbol is universally recognized as the most popular sport in the world, no matter personal preference. I myself am constantly torn between my two personal favorites, baseball and soccer, which are often known as rival sports- one being a true American sport and one being a globally recognized religion per se. Brazilian scholars, Ricardo dos Santos and Francisco Texiera describe soccer as,
“The secular religion of this era, with all its myths, rules, and received heroes.”
Football fans are die-hard and dedicated to their chosen teams. A survey conducted pre 2010 World Cup found that 93% of Europeans (English respondents) would happily sacrifice food for a whole week just to see England hold the cup above their hallowed heads and 70% of Italians would quit their jobs to see an Azzurri win. In Brazil, if you can’t decide between the multitudes of Catholic churches, have no fear because there’s always Inglesia Maradoniana. Yes-dedicated to Diego Maradona himself. Here in America, fans couldn’t even stay for arguably one of the most dramatic finishes in sports history- game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals which the Miami Heat ended up winning, because an extra half hour of traffic just wouldn’t be bearable.
However it’s not the dedication of the fans that makes the importance of soccer so real- it’s what soccer in the eyes of the spectators, players, and the aspiring. For some soccer is literally everything, it’s all they have. For these, soccer is an opportunity, it is the opportunity to rise above where they come from or achieve more to escape their beginnings. For some soccer is a hobby, it’s the sport you grew up playing as a kid. For these, hanging up your cleats at the end of your career, whether that be at 18 or 24, will put a hole in your heart with the sport holding a space bigger than that hole. For some, soccer is their religion. For these, waking up at ungodly hours of morning to tune into the UEFA Champions League is a ritual in itself. No matter what soccer means to you, to some and to others, there is no arguing that soccer is loved and appreciated on a global scale and arguably the greatest sport on earth.
Not only is soccer universal because the countless countries, strangers and cultures it unifies, football is a positive force on the world in other ways.
1. Soccer is a positive force on global economies, raking in millions for the teams and country they come form themselves and billions when the World Cup arrives, according to Forbes.
2. Soccer serves as a force of change with FIFA working to develop soccer programs in poor nations as a mean of improving health and nutrition, promoting female athletics, and fostering the love of the game.
3. Soccer emphasizes the importance of women with the US Women’s national team sparking the most interest in soccer than America has ever shown. These women have captured the attention of the nation like no other professional team has.
No matter which of the 3 names the sport goes by, no matter what team is your favorite, no matter what the sport means to you, soccer is much more than an athletic spectacle of 22 men kicking a ball around a field. When Real Sociedad comes up against the face of the Spanish crown, Real Madrid, it is more than a ball hitting the back of the net. The chants and roars of the crowds heard across the stadiums around the globe express the passion that long predates the game of fútbol itself. This beautiful game brings together those from countless different countries, cultures, and dialects, and unifies them under one simple, universal language: soccer.
