U.S. Loss to Belgium Is Gut Punch, but Bright Future Remains for Soccer Here

As the United States players hung their heads after a 4-1 loss to Belgium in Seattle on Monday night, a nation momentarily captivated by soccer mourned the sudden end of a promising journey.

But buried within the disappointment of the sobering defeat was evidence that this World Cup has accelerated soccer’s decades-long climb into the national consciousness.

With established professional leagues for both men and women, and youth participation continuing to soar, the men’s national team is far from the sole metric for the health of the sport in the United States. Despite the end of the U.S.’s World Cup run, soccer’s stakeholders are eagerly anticipating a boost for the sport’s presence and potential in a nation where it has long battled other sports for attention.

“I hope we can continue to inspire the country with great victories in the future,” Don Garber, the long-serving commissioner of Major League Soccer, said in an interview in his office in Manhattan last week. “But the growth of the sport is not dependent on that. The success of the World Cup in general has been driving the sport forward in ways that are almost as important as the success of the U.S. team.”

As it did in 1994, the last time the men’s World Cup was held in the United States, the tournament is sure to lift interest, not only because of the U.S.’s star players — bolstered by Christian Pulisic and several other starters in top European leagues — but because of the dazzling goals, exciting comebacks and fun-loving, flag-waving fans from around the world who poured into stadiums and downtowns across the country.