As the World Cup Fades, Will Its Promise?: An Op-ed by SWB Executive Director Jennifer Tepper

World Cup photos courtesy of Burt Granofsky.

My son works for a sports book. He loves sports. Despite having a mom who played collegiate soccer and a sister who played at high levels, as a youth ice hockey player, he’s always insisted that “soccer is boring and slow.” Last night, at dinner, he admitted that he has watched every World Cup game.

Every four years, the World Cup reminds us why soccer is called the world's game. And over six weeks this summer, Americans were reminded why.

We have fallen in love with Cape Verde. Some of us may even have located it on a map.

We re-invested our emotional currency into the USMNT and we were gutted when they lost to Belgium.

We have marveled at Messi’s tireless legs and magical touches.

And Erling Haaland’s appeal alone has caused Norway to create a digital nomad visa for annual stays. (I think our country has a thing for people who are, or could be, NFL tight ends).

Even my son has been captivated.

Brands are putting on blast what many in communities have known—that soccer is about far more than winning games. It is a vehicle for belonging.

This World Cup also featured advertisements celebrating youth soccer, telling stories of confidence gained, friendships formed, resilience learned, and communities built. Ad spots that emphasize the Power of Play and promoting participation in sports are amplified in surround sound.

The message is inspiring. But it is also superficial.

When the cameras leave, the sponsorship banners come down, and the World Cup trophy finds its next home, who delivers on those promises?

It isn't FIFA.

It isn't multinational corporations.

It is the host of community organizations quietly doing the work every single day.

Organizations like Soccer Without Borders, Soccer Unity Project, the CJ Brown Foundation, Open Field, South Bronx United, The Sanneh Foundation, and so many more that don't appear in multimillion-dollar advertising campaigns. Yet their work is the reason these ad campaigns ring true.

That distinction matters.

The benefits reaped from soccer highlighted in glossy commercials—leadership, teamwork, mental health, perseverance, cultural understanding—do not magically emerge from putting on a jersey. They come from intentional environments created by caring adults who know their players, understand their families, and see youth as whole people rather than only future stars.

Across the United States, thousands of community-based soccer organizations create these environments every day. They organize transportation, recruit volunteers, pay coaches, provide equipment, tutor students, connect families with resources, and build bridges across cultures. Their work continues through the off-season, through the school year, through difficult moments, and long after the World Cup fades from social media.

Yet these organizations often operate with a fraction of the resources devoted to promoting soccer's virtues. There is an irony in watching million-dollar advertising campaigns celebrate the life-changing power of youth sports while the nonprofits actually producing those life-changing experiences struggle to pay for field space, equipment, transportation, or staff.

If the World Cup succeeds in inspiring a new generation of young players—and history suggests it will—we should ask ourselves a simple question: where will those children go next?

For some families, the answer is expensive club soccer, complete with travel tournaments and substantial fees.

For many others, that pathway simply doesn't exist.

Community organizations fill that gap. They ensure soccer belongs to everyone, not just those who can afford it.

That is perhaps the sport's greatest promise.

As excitement from the World Cup spills into neighborhoods across America, we have an opportunity to think beyond fandom.

We can cheer the spectacular bicycle kick while also investing in the after-school coach helping a newly arrived refugee feel welcome.

We can celebrate international superstars while supporting local mentors who help young people discover confidence one practice at a time.

We can admire the world's biggest sporting event while recognizing that soccer's most meaningful victories often happen on local community fields, far from television cameras.

The World Cup will end. The advertisements will disappear. My son will go back to watching his mainstays, football and basketball and ice hockey. 

But tomorrow afternoon, somewhere in America, a young person will lace up borrowed cleats, step onto a community field, and begin finding confidence, friendship, and belonging through soccer.

That story deserves as much attention as anything happening in the world's biggest stadiums.

Because if we truly believe what the commercials tell us about the power of youth soccer, then it's time to invest not only in the spectacle of the sport—but in the community organizations that make its promise real. Every single day.