Soccer in the United States might not find a greater moment than right now, in the middle of a three-year stretch when the U.S. hosted Copa America last year, the FIFA Club World Cup this year and the 2026 World Cup next — with the final taking place at MetLife Stadium.
As the sport continues to make inroads in the United States, American soccer great Landon Donovan told The Post on Thursday that he could feel the excitement building and the interest growing by leaps and bounds.
Donovan had been in New York for a media brunch promoting the upcoming Club World Cup that’s set to take place across 12 venues in the U.S. beginning June 14 in Miami.
“I can feel it anecdotally, and then I can feel it just in the attention around [the sport],” Donovan said.
The expanded Club World Cup will bring the top teams from across the globe together for a best-on-best tournament, which will include Inter Miami and the Seattle Sounders from the MLS.
But the biggest facilitator will be the World Cup taking place next year and how far the U.S. Men’s National Team can go in the global tournament. The men have advanced past the Round of 16 just once — the 2002 World Cup, when they reached the quarterfinals — dating back to 1990, when they qualified for the first time following a stretch of nine tournaments in which they failed to qualify.
“We could spend 10 years growing the sport organically … but one iconic moment next summer takes it exponentially higher,” Donovan said about any momentum for soccer in the U.S. “There’s nothing that can replicate that, and that’s part of the reason why I’m so passionate about when our national team doesn’t play well or doesn’t play proud. That’s why it bothers me, because the opportunity, literally, the sky’s the limit. I mean literally, for these guys.”
Donovan, who played in three World Cups for the United States and was named by The Guardian as the greatest male U.S. soccer player of all time in 2015, explained that the biggest thing for the United States to be successful in 2026 is playing with “pride.”
Though the major focus is on 2026, Donovan is excited for Americans to get a taste of the Club World Cup this summer. MetLife Stadium will host matches, including the championship game.
The American soccer great believes, similar to March Madness, that fans would fall in love with teams they’d never been exposed to until now.
“I’ve just learned with fandom, like there’s no one reason someone becomes a fan,” Donovan said. “Sometimes it’s a moment. Sometimes it’s a fan. Sometimes you go to watch another team, and then all of a sudden, that team catches your eye.”
Among the notable teams in the Club World Cup are Manchester City, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, along with Saudi giant Al Hilal.
