'Explosive growth' of soccer expected in U.S. with 2026 World Cup coming and maybe 2027's, too, NWSL commissioner says

NEW YORK — The upcoming World Cups are set to kick soccer interest up a notch in the U.S., according to the commissioner of the National Women’s Soccer League.

Jessica Berman expects “explosive growth” stateside over the next four-to-six years with the U.S. co-hosting the men’s World Cup in 2026 and bidding for the 2027 women’s tournament.

“There’s this age-old question: When is America going to start paying attention to this global sport? Well, it’s happened,” Berman said in London at the Financial Times’ Business of Football summit, according to ESPN.

“They are paying attention, they love this sport, and we have this halo effect of the U.S. women’s national team and their incredible success.”

The soccer surge is particularly prominent in the New York/New Jersey area, with the 2026 World Cup final set to take place at Metife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., where the Giants and Jets call home.

NJ/NY Gotham F.C., meanwhile, won its first-ever NWSL championship in November, then added four staples of the U.S. Women’s National Team in Crystal Dunn, Rose Lavelle, Emily Sonnett and Tierna Davidson during a franchise-altering offseason.

All four players were part of the U.S. roster that won the 2019 World Cup, which marked back-to-back titles for the women’s national team. Dunn, Lavelle, Sonnet and Davidson bring with them a collective star power that’s invited mentions of a Gotham superteam.

“We want this type of attention,” general manager Yael Averbuch said last month at the quartet’s introductory press conference. “I’m from this area of the country, and we really want to embody the New Jersey/New York mindset, which is [that] we want to be the best and we want other people chasing us. We want that target on our back.”

Further fueling the fútbol frenzy in the U.S. was Lionel Messi signing with Inter Miami last summer. The soccer superstar made his Major League Soccer debut in August against the New York Red Bulls in Harrison, N.J., and scored a goal in Miami’s 2-0 victory.

Inter Miami is set to return to Red Bull Arena on March 23, though Messi may miss that meeting in favor of games with Argentina in Philadelphia and Los Angeles that were originally scheduled to take place in China. Messi led Argentina to a World Cup title in 2022.

The U.S. is co-hosting the 2026 World Cup with Mexico and Canada. The FIFA Congress is set to vote in May to decide the site of the 2027 Women’s World Cup, which the U.S. hopes to co-host with Mexico.

“[Soccer] is one of the few sports where when you ask 100 percent [of the] people in the U.S. to close their eyes and imagine ‘greatness, soccer and America,’ they think of women,” Berman said.

“With the World Cup coming in 2026 and the possibility the Women’s World Cup will come in 2027, there is an incredible amount of interest.”