For lovers of soccer, or what the rest of the world calls football, 2026 is no ordinary year.
It is the moment when the world’s eyes turn toward North America, as the World Cup transforms daily life, tensions are set aside and nations unite in a contagious joy that defines generations. However, the American sporting calendar has two hearts: while June and July belong to soccer, February remains the maximum peak for NFL fans. The Super Bowl is the season’s final play, where families, friends and even pets gather to celebrate not just a sport, but American history itself.
This terminological duality gained new chapters following the announcement of the World Cup hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico. Domestic “soccer” is gaining unprecedented momentum. Major League Soccer (MLS) has expanded at a huge pace since David Beckham opened the doors for global icons. Today, we see names like Hugo Lloris, Marco Reus, Jordi Alba, Luis Suárez and Sergio Busquets on American teams. And, of course, there is the “icing on the cake”: Lionel Messi, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, serving as the ultimate ambassador for this new era.
Reinforcing this shift, even the political arena has stepped onto the field. At official FIFA events, the debate over the sport’s name was reignited by figures like Donald Trump, who mentioned, with his characteristic sarcastic wit, the intention to change the term “soccer” back to “football,” because it doesn’t make sense. A comment that strikes a chord with sports traditionalists and American fans alike.
The History
But how did this linguistic feud begin?
Many wrongly attribute the term “soccer” to an American invention designed to diminish the global game. However, the real plot twist is that it all started in England.
In 1863, the Association Football (the FA) was created, the oldest football institution in the world, which still governs the English game today. At the time, the sport was played by various teams without standardized rules and needed to distinguish itself from “Rugby Football.” The FA, alongside the Cambridge University Football Club, began the process of formalizing the sport and one of the rules was not to use your hands to advance on the field. To make communication easier, English students created abbreviations: Rugby became “Rugger,” and Association Football became “Assoc.” Eventually, “Assoc” evolved into “Soccer.”
It’s worth noting that anything that minimally involved using the feet was considered football at that time, which is why many sports institutions included the word “Football” in their name, as was the case with Rugby Football.
As the British Empire spread the sport across the globe, most nations adopted the literal translation of “Football.” Meanwhile, in the United States around 1876, university students founded the Intercollegiate Football Association, formalizing a sport that evolved from Rugby but carved its own path into what we now know as American Football. Out of linguistic convenience, Americans simply held onto the term the British themselves were using at the time for the kicking game: soccer.
Identity and Cultural Respect
Over the decades, the overwhelming popularity of the NFL consolidated “Football” in the American vocabulary as a synonym for the gridiron, leaving “soccer” as the label for the game played with feet. A similar phenomenon occurs in Australia and New Zealand, where Rugby and Australian Rules Football dominate the primary nomenclature, and “soccer” remains the standard term. Conversely, in the United Kingdom, “Football” became an untouchable cultural institution, fueled by the Premier League, the world’s top national league, causing the term “soccer” to fade into the background, becoming almost a linguistic “aberration” to British ears.
As a Brazilian living in the United States, I live this dichotomy daily. When talking to an American or even a fellow Brazilian, I find myself using “American Football” to refer to the NFL.
In my heart, “Football” will always be the game played with the feet, given the magnitude the sport holds in my home country. Yet, out of cultural adaptation, I use the word “soccer” while I stand on American soil, always respecting the linguistic choice of the culture I am immersed in.
Ultimately, the terminology matters less than the feeling. Whether it is American Football, Soccer, Football, Fútbol, Futebol, or Calcio, what must prevail is respect for each culture’s traditions.
Sport is, above all, a connector where diversity is embraced and emotions run high. Regardless of the name you use, what truly matters is not the score on the board, but the moments and memories built around the ball, be it round, or oval.
