The United States’ run in the World Cup recently ended unceremoniously in the Round of 16 with a loss to Belgium. Although I’m not an everyday soccer fan, I’ve been glued to the TV watching as many games as I could. Following the US team was fun, but to my surprise, my fandom stretched much further than our national team. I found myself invested in games involving Portugal, Spain, Argentina, Morocco and a host of countries I wouldn’t otherwise think about.
In the blink of an eye, the US men’s soccer team fell flat against a more talented team and our shared dream of a deep run was over. This appeared to cause a pall over our country that lasted the better part of a week. The reaction was both interesting and telling.
Why was there such sadness when the US was ousted from a tournament they had an infinitesimal chance of winning? I have no scientific way of knowing for sure, but I can take an educated guess at the answer.
Unity. A country becomes unified under moments of great despair (9/11 is a good example) or shared belief in what’s right (World War II for instance). For those old enough to remember, the 1990 Persian Gulf War was unifying for a majority of the country, certainly much more so than our recent war with Iran.
The divisions that exist within our country are new for our period of time, but divisiveness has been a constant throughout our history. The constitution didn’t appear out of thin air, the language and laws put into place had to be agreed upon by every state. Compromises were made, some were small and others were large, the most important one being the abolition of slavery. A compromise on slavery to keep the country together at its founding led to a future war that tore that same country apart. The decision to “kick the can” for future generations to figure out continues to impact our nation to this day.
The World Cup offered us an opportunity to come together as a nation in celebration of a shared goal, one that could be experienced without the loss of lives due to war or terrorism. The Olympics provide some of this same spirit but it’s not exactly the same.
Outside of the women’s team, soccer isn’t a sport where America normally excels. If there’s anything Americans love more than a winner it’s an underdog. Our country was founded on being the underdog as evidenced and celebrated every year on July 4th. To have the largest sporting event in the world, in our home country in the 250th year of our founding was special.
For one brief period of time in the Summer of 2026, we removed our political affiliations and enjoyed one shared goal in a team representing the country we call home. We welcomed the world to enjoy what it means to be an American. Through all our faults, disagreements and anger towards administrative decisions and each other, we’ve played the part of host brilliantly.
There was a national pride that had not been felt for years, in fact, many within the younger generation had perhaps never experienced it before. The World Cup continues of course but our part in it has been diminished. We are now relegated to the sideline along with the patriotic pride that has accompanied it.
Hopefully we will see this sort of unity again in the near future.
Preferably in the form of sports, not war.
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Patrick Byrne lives in Tega Cay with his wife and two daughters. After 25 years working for a Big 4 bank, he retired to pursue his passion for writing. Additional articles and content can be found on his blog (reverian1776.blogspot.com) and freethepeople.org.
Patrick can be reach via email at [email protected]
