Soccer in the united states
| Soccer in the United States | |
|---|---|
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| Country | United States |
| Governing body | U.S. Soccer |
| National team |
Men's national team; Women's national team |
| First played | 1862 |
| Registered players | 4,186,778 |
| Clubs | 9,000 |
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National competitions
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Club competitions
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International competitions
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CONCACAF Champions League
CONCACAF Gold Cup (National Team) FIFA World Cup (National Team) FIFA Confederations Cup (Men's National Team) CONCACAF Women's Championship (National Team) FIFA Women's World Cup (National Team) |
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Audience records
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| Single match | 109,318 (Man. Utd. 3–1 Real Madrid at Michigan Stadium, 2014) |
| Season | 77,691 (Cosmos 8-3 Fort Lauderdale Strikers) at Giants Stadium, 1977) |
Soccer in the United States is governed by the United States Soccer Federation, commonly known as U.S. Soccer. The organization governs most levels of soccer in the country, including the national teams, professional leagues, and the amateur game with the exception of college and high school soccer. With over 13 million Americans playing soccer in the United States, soccer is the third most played team sport in the U.S., behind only basketball and baseball. The popularity of soccer in the U.S. has been growing since the 1960s and 1970s, and received a significant boost when the United States hosted the 1994 World Cup. In the United States, the sport of association football is mainly referred to as "soccer", as the term "football" is primarily used to refer to the sport of American football.
The highest professional soccer league in the U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s was the North American Soccer League. Currently it is Major League Soccer, which began play in 1996 with 10 teams, and has grown to 22 teams (19 in the United States and 3 in Canada), with further expansion planned. The MLS season runs from March to December, with the regular-season winner awarded the Supporters' Shield and the post-season winner awarded the MLS Cup. With an average attendance of over 20,000 per game, MLS has the third highest average attendance of any sports league in the U.S., and is the seventh highest attended professional soccer league worldwide.
Soccer fans also follow the U.S. national teams in international competition. The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Final drew a record 26.7 million viewers, greater than final games of the 2014 World Series or the 2015 NBA Finals, and the 2010 Men's World Cup final drew 26.5 million viewers. The men's national team has played in every World Cup since 1990, and the women's national team has won three Women's World Cup titles and four gold medals at the Summer Olympics.
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Wikipedia