The World Cup is Earth’s finest sports tournament. Every four years, the men’s tournament is enacted, while the women also play every four years, but are sandwiched on a two-year interval. This means that every two years, a World Cup is played.
It is an important tournament because it pits countries around the globe against each other in the sport of football.
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The 2026 men’s World Cup is being played in North and Central America this time around, beginning June
11.
There are 12 groups with four clubs in each group. Teams play each other in their group with points given for wins and tie games (labeled “draws”), and zero points for a loss. At the end of the group stage, the top two clubs from each group advance.
Exhibition games, commonly called “friendlies,” have been going on since last year. These give each World Cup participant tune-up games, commonly called “matches.”
Normally, one country will host the World Cup. This time around, three countries will host games: the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
The American host cities are Seattle, New York, San Francisco, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Dallas, and Philadelphia. Two Canadian cities will host contests: Vancouver and Toronto. In Mexico, Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Mexico City will showcase their cities.
All of the U.S. stadiums are NFL venues, while the Canadian arenas are CFL stadiums. The governing bodies of the game of soccer worldwide require natural grass, and the field has to be completely flat without a crown, which is a feature that many football fields install in order for the turf to drain properly.
Around the world, the sport of soccer is called “football.” Why? What is the reason?
The answer? Soccer has always been called football. Always. It is the first. It is the game from which all of the other games that have “football” in their title were derived. “Soccer” is not that game’s real name. Its real name is football.
The word “soccer” came later.
The Romans invented soccer as a method to keep their soldiers in shape. The rules would differ from region to region, which made it difficult to host tournaments or play against other nations. Finally, as the world became less violent and countries began to take shape, the English put down on paper standardized rules they titled “Association Football.” It is what the world still follows.
Today, the worldwide organizing group that governs the sport is named the “Federation Internationale de Football Association,” commonly known as “FIFA.” It oversees competition globally, which governs all soccer leagues and laws, tournaments, and events.
Football (soccer) came first. At different intervals, other sports began to form. All of these games became an offshoot of football (soccer), with some different rules, terminology, field markings, and equipment. But they all began with football (soccer).
It’s like a man named Sam Jones who has a son who he names Joe Jones. Then, his son is named Brandon Jones. Three generations, but are all called Jones, because the grandfather had the last name of Jones.
The sport of football is only called “soccer” in North America. Everywhere else on this planet, it is called “football.” It was the first Jones.
The rules of football played in the United States are officially called “American Football.” The rules of the game in Canada are officially called “Canadian Football.” Then there is “Gaelic Football,” “Rugby Football,” and “Arena Football.” In Australia, they have “Australian Rules Football,” “Rugby League Q,” and “Rugby Football Union.” All three are substantially different games.
The word “soccer” comes from the word “Association.”
Playing “Association Football” got shortened to playing “Assoccer” to “Soccer.”
Rugby Football became shortened to “Rugby.” American Football became shortened to “Football.” We call “American Football” simply “football” because it is the most popular form of football that exists in our area. In Latin America, the game is called “Futbol,” which is Spanish for “football.”
And now that the men’s World Cup is about to kick off, President Donald Trump got involved.
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All of the teams are assigned to all 12 groups by a draw. This event occurred at the Kennedy Center in Washington. In attendance was FIFA president Gianni Infantino, and then three heads of state who took part in a ceremonial drawing of their respective nations into the groups.
Trump stated:
“(The World Cup)is football, there’s no question about it. We have to come up with another name for the NFL. It really doesn’t make sense when you think about it.”
Trump decided to throw out an idea that he has been toying with. Since the rest of the world calls soccer “football,” maybe North America should come up with a new name for its sport. No longer should the professional, college, high school, and recreational levels use the name “football” to describe their game. Why not just come up with a new name?
Then, the entire globe would refer to soccer as “football.” And there wouldn’t be any confusion. See how easy that is? In fact, the word “soccer” would then become obsolete.
Trump indicated that the crossover with football identities provides a conflict.
Which may not be a bad idea.
Obviously, football (soccer) got its name because the game is played mostly with the feet and is descriptive of the sport. Just like basketball and baseball. American Football also offers kicking the ball with the foot, but only on certain plays and in certain opportunities. The majority of play is not conducted with the foot being placed on the ball like football (soccer) does. In fact, except for the placement kicker and punter, kicking the ball on the field of play is a penalty. So is punting the ball into the crowd.
And also consider that the ball used in American Football is actually spherical in shape, officially called a “prolate spheroid.” Whereas almost every other sport calls it “a ball” because it is round. So, if the ball utilized isn’t round, and if there isn’t that much kicking involved throughout the entirety of the game, maybe “foot” and “ball” are terrible choices in which to refer to this sport. Trump may be onto something.
Here are some suggestions:
“Piggly Wiggly”
This gives a nod to the beginnings of American Football, where the inside portion that held the air was a pig’s bladder, and the ball’s protective exterior was made from a pig’s hide. Today, they are either manufactured from cowhide leather, synthetic leather, or rubber with a vinyl bladder that is less susceptible to leaks.
“Kill the Man with the Ball”
Because of the way society views nationwide shootings, perhaps this should be toned down a bit, but the title is certainly correct. The job of the defense is to plant their opponents into the turf. A less offensive moniker might be, “Pop off on the fellow with the prolate spheroid.”
“Foosball”
Yeah, yeah, we know there is a bar game of the same name. But it is still funny when “The Waterboy’s” mom, Helen Boucher, says it, and it should stick.
“Gridironball”
The playing surface of any American Football game has been referred to as a gridiron. It is simply a metaphor for the field itself. The Boston Herald in 1897 coined this phrase at the annual Harvard-Yale game because from the higher seats, the field markings appeared like a stove gridiron with its painted yardage lines. It could be shortened to “Gridiron.” The word “ball” could be substituted with “Spheroid,” “Orb,” or “Globule.”
“American Football”
Why not just require all forms and levels of the game add the word “American” to all of its league, conference, divisional, and championship names? Several leagues in the past have already used it: the “World League of American Football,” “American Professional Football Association,” and the “Alliance of American Football.” The game’s originator, Walter Camp, described the game in “Walter Camp’s Book of College Sports,” circa 1900. Chapter 5 is entitled, “Foot-ball in America.” He states, “The rules governing American foot-ball are an outgrowth or development of the English Rugby foot-ball game.”
It seems more that when the sport of rugby was being played by American colleges in the Northeast, and then Camp began to tinker with rules and invented a brand-new game that we know now as American Football, Camp should have used the word “American” more as a description of his new game.
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Things in life just get shortened. A digital versatile disc is now a DVD. Mister becomes Mr. Tsp is the measurement of a teaspoon. Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation is shortened to LASER. The NCAA is actually the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Up north, it began as “Canadians Rules Football” and remains as such. That game is very similar to American Football, and is seen as a sister sport. However, there are lots of rule changes. The fields are not comparable. Scoring is different. And terminology is not the same.
But it is still a game of downs, yards gained, touchdowns, passing, runs, blocks, and tackles.
The reason is that the Canadian game kept a lot of its roots tied closely to rugby, whereas American Football did not. The CFL came together as a merger between two rugby leagues, and then melded into the game of American Football with its own rules, which honored their legacy sport.
And really, did anyone take Trump seriously when he said that football in North America should come up with its own name? Most likely, he was doing this tongue-in-cheek since he was around all of those football (soccer) dignitaries. In the 1980s, Trump owned his own pro football team, the New Jersey Generals, so he is very aware of what the game of football is in the United States.
Some things just get their own identity and retain it.
In North America, football will always be football. And soccer will always be that other football game.
