President Donald Trump has added fuel to a debate that has raged for decades by suggesting the United States stop referring to the sport as "soccer" and begin calling it "football." In a speech at the FIFA World Cup draw on Friday, the president said American terminology causes unnecessary confusion.
“When you look at what has happened to football in the United States, which is soccer in the United States, we seem to never call it (football) because we have a little bit of a conflict with another thing that’s called football,” Trump said. He added that, by global standards, the name “football” fits the sport more naturally.
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Calls for NFL name change stir conversation
Trump went ahead and said that the NFL perhaps needs to have “another name” since the United States uses a global term. “But when you think about it, shouldn’t it really be called … this 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,” he said.
The NFL, founded in 1922 after transitioning from the American Professional Football Association, remains the country’s most dominant sports league, leading television ratings, attendance and advertising revenue. American football became so popular in the early 20th century that the term “soccer” stuck, even though the national governing body was once known as the United States Soccer Football Association. It dropped “football” from its name in 1974 to become the United States Soccer Federation.
World Cup momentum builds ahead of 2026 tournament
Trump's comments came as FIFA unveiled the group draws for the 2026 World Cup, jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19. This will be the first time the US has hosted the tournament since 1994.
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He was joined at the draw by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, and Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum. Earlier in the ceremony, Infantino presented Trump with the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize, an unexpected moment that rapidly attracted worldwide attention.
