Can Trump sell the MAGA crowd on soccer?

While the days of soccer being a go-to conservative punching bag for being “socialist” or a “sign of the nation’s moral decay” have largely subsided, right-leaning publications still regularly trot out arguments for why the “US doesn’t care about soccer” or the sport is “unjust and un-American“.

In recent years, the sport has also served as a lighting rod in American culture wars, with the US women’s national team in particular landing in the crosshairs of Donald Trump and the MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement for its outspoken progressive players.

With the men’s World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico rapidly approaching and Donald Trump aggressively promoting the tournament and deepening his relationship with FIFA, the American president is facing one of his toughest sells yet: soccer to his supporters.

Trump’s World Cup?

Despite weighing in on America’s eternal ‘soccer’ vs. ‘football’ debate, most of Trump’s soccer push is not directly related to the sport itself.

“While compared to other countries around the world, soccer is less political here,” Jeffrey Kraus, political scientist at Wagner College, New York, told DW. “This upcoming World Cup has in many ways taken a political tone.”

“There’s a sense that FIFA has embraced President Trump, which certainly associates the tournament with the president,” he continued.

Trump’s ever-intensifying relationship with FIFA President Gianni Infantino, and FIFA’s partnership with the president’s new Board of Peace have helped make Trump the face of a continent-spanning World Cup.

For some conservatives, Trump’s enthusiasm for soccer doesn’t feel out of place given his approach to popular sports generally.

“He’s always been a sports guy – just look at his connection to UFC and wrestling,” Chris Vance, President of the UCLA Young Republicans, told DW. “He’s always been about entertainment, he was in that business a long time, so it makes sense.”

Evolving soccer culture

While American soccer isn’t generally as overtly politicized as in many parts of Europe, its comparably young and immigrant-heavy fanbase tends to be more progressive.

Anti-ICE protests have been a major point of contention among Major League Soccer (MLS) fans and league officials since Trump’s reelection.

Ryan Shirah, a member of the ‘American Outlaws’ US National Team supporters group who’s attended over 120 men’s and women’s US matches, argues that though most fans avoid politics in the stands, they broadly lean in one direction.

“I won’t shy away from the fact that there’s a humanistic element there — I think most soccer fans in America tend to lean on the more progressive, human rights-focused side of things,” Shirah told DW.

Shirah said political tensions in the supporters section were highest in the immediate wake of Trump’s first election, where there was concern Trump’s anti-Mexican campaign rhetoric would spill into the stands at a USA vs Mexico World Cup qualifier in Columbus, Ohio.

“We didn’t know what was going to happen, if people would be trying to chant, ‘build that wall’,” Sirah explained. “It’s something we didn’t want to bring into our atmosphere and we kept out. Generally, we haven’t really had an issue.”

Soccer’s continued growth means the political makeup of its American fans is likely to shift.

“Since the US hosted the 1994 World Cup, soccer has become a bigger part of American life,” said political scientist Kraus. “Much of the population growth since the 90s has been through immigration, and many of the folks who come here brought their love of the ‘beautiful game’.”

Growing Republican support among Latinos in the 2024 election demonstrates that the political views of immigrants, many of whom are driving the sport’s growth in the US, can evolve and potentially change US soccer culture in turn.

And while the arrival of Lionel Messi in Miami has brought wider attention to the sport, organizers are hoping the 2026 World Cup can further propel soccer into the American mainstream. As it gets bigger, soccer will increasingly appeal to conservative fans.

“I live on Staten Island, one of the most suburban and conservative boroughs in New York City. When I was younger, on Saturdays you’d drive around and the athletic fields would be filled with kids playing baseball. Now it’s soccer,” said Kraus. It is perhaps of note that Staten Island is the only NYC borough won by Donald Trump in 2024.

The next MAGA sporting sensation?

Vance, who notes he’s a bit of an outlier among his peers due to his interest in soccer, is excited for the US to play World Cup matches in Los Angeles.

“It’s cool to host it here. I think of it almost as a conservative sport because it’s so community based, or at the very least not really as a politically-leaning sport,” he said.

Organized supporters like Shirah tend not to dwell too much on potential political differences with fellow fans as long as they can maintain a welcoming atmosphere in the stadium.

“We haven’t had a major tournament since the election, but why have that (offensive) nonsense into the stadium if we don’t have to? So far, so good,” he said.

“We don’t care what you do or what podcasts you listen to after the 90 minutes. If you’re passionate about the team and not using slurs or anything, that’s fine. We all have walks of life, and I think that’s what makes America great.”

First, the US will have to have a successful run at the World Cup to make the most of a generational opportunity. If they can do that, existing supporters may well have to worry about the politics of new fans — a problem many of them likely wouldn’t mind.

Edited by: Jonathan Harding