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Canada and USA Soccer Will Make Some Noise
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Source: CBC
Over the past few decades, we have not seen a successful North American national soccer team, whether it’s Canada or the United States. Both teams have been consistently beaten by the world’s superpowers whether it’s losing to Brazil, Germany, Argentina, England, etc. But sometimes not even making it to that stage and losing to teams like Honduras, Cuba, Mexico, etc.
But it’s 2021 now…. Previously both national teams relied on the few players they had who played outside of Continental America, like Landon Donovan and Julian De Guzman, who were exceptional players for their nations, but honestly, somewhat average for top professional teams across the globe. It’s a different story in this new generation.
Alphonso Davies: Champions League winner, Bundesliga winner, DFB Pokal winner, Canadian
Christian Pulisic: Champions League winner, Super Cup winner, DFB Pokal winner, American
Weston McKennie: Champions league appearances, Coppa Italia Winner, Supercoppa Italia winner, American
Jonathan David: Ligue 1 winner, Europa League appearances, Trophee des Champions winner, Canadian
That’s only 4 of the 24 players combined in both the current US and Canadian national team squads who play outside of North America.
More and more we are seeing players from Canada and the US playing at the top level and being highly successful. Over the past decades, we haven’t seen this level of high-quality players in the national teams.
It will be extremely exciting to see both the United States and Canada qualify for the 2022 World Cup and then jointly-hosting the 2026 Cup with Mexico. With already so many talented players, the future is bright for the next decade, inspiring this next generation to be the best and bring success to Canadian and American soccer.
From a marketing perspective, the opportunity to increase the soccer viewership's and followership market in Canada and the US that are currently football, hockey, and basketball dominated, the possible success of the two teams in the years to come can make soccer one of the most viewed sports in the continent. If both teams were to make it to the world cup, it would be certain that many people would tune in to see how their country does.
We could see never before seen investments into North American soccer, and eventually, see that investment cause North America to compete with the rest of the world for world domination in the sport.
Published: September 10th, 2021 - Issue 7 of The Sport Marketeer