Founding Futbol

When Founding Futbol began, over a year ago, it was intended to be a year-long project exploring 52 key moments that helped soccer become popular in America. There was, by definition, a beginning, middle and end to the the series. The vision was to research those moments and present a point of view on their relevance, alongside interviews from people involved. It quickly evolved to become more amb...

Asli Pelit came to the US to study journalism, but quickly realized she missed the soccer culture she gew up with in Turkey. In search of a way to combine her passion for the beautiful game and her desire to tell stories, Asli traveled to South America to learn more about the obsession with great "number 10s." That was among her first exposure to the cult of Lionel Messi.  That work launched her c...

The story of Lionel Messi coming to America to play for Inter Miami of MLS was so big, that USA Today decided to dedicate an entire job to just that beat. Safid Deen is that reporter. After a long and successful career covering more traditional American sports -- like basketball and American football both at the professional and college level, Deen had the opportunity to cover Messi and jumped at...

Lionel Messi's decision to join Inter Miami of Major League Soccer had historical precedent on many levels. Despite it's failure, the first MLS team in Miami -- the Fusion -- attempted to harness the unique location and demographic makeup of the south Florida to the benefit of soccer in America. With a strong connection to Latin America, stars like Carlos Valderrama wore Fusion colors in an attemp...

Lionel Messi is widely considered the great soccer player of all-time. His accomplishments are virtually unrivaled. His counting stats in many was are incomprehensible. Messi's long career primarily with Barcelona, at the club level, and Argentina, internationally, have built him a fan following second to none on the history of professional sports.  With David Beckham's involvement in the Major Le...

Jeff Carlisle is one of the best known soccer reporters in America. He career covering the sports has mirrored its ascension in the United States. After transitioning out of a job in corporate America, Jeff tried his hand in writing with a focus on the beautiful game. Within a few years, she was working for ESPN and quickly emerged as one of the lead writers covering Major League Soccer and the US...

Kellyn Acosta was a key member of the US Men's National Team that qualified for and then played in the 2022 FIFA Men's World Cup in Qatar. His journey to that tournament, and significance of his participation, is unique to the story of soccer in America.  Acosta was born in Dallas, Texas and joined he FC Dallas youth system in 2009. He worked his way through the Development Academy, then onto the...

When the US Men's National Team failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, it was a setback to the growth of soccer in America. The disappointment of that failed qualification triggered changes at the top of the team, and a concerted effort to integrate a new group of young talent that could get the team back to the FIFA Men's World Cup in 2022. Players like Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, Tyler Adams,...

While the equal pay fight was driven by players on the US Women's National Team, they represented all women trying to make a living playing soccer at the highest level. The fight extended into the professional ranks where players like Joanna Lohman used their voices to advocate for, initially, just a living wage at the WPS and then NWSL levels.  But, for players like Lohman and so many others, the...

After the 2015 Women's World Cup, the US Women's National Team used their heightened profile and propensity for activism to file a complaint  with Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against US Soccer seeking equal pay to their male counterparts on the US Men's National Team. Five players -- Alex Morgan, Hope Solo, Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe, and Becky Sauerbrunn -- asserted that the US...

David Copeland-Smith founded Beast Mode Soccer in in 2010 as a training system to help guide soccer players’ technical development. His methodologies quickly caught on among college, international and pro players, leading him to work with the likes of Alex Morgan, Rachel Daly, Landon Donovan, Allie Long and Kristie Mewis. In fact, 13 of the 24 members of the 2019 World Cup winning World Cup squad...

The exploration of key moments in US Soccer history has revealed the importance of media and then social media in amplifying the beauty of the game and connecting fans to it in a variety of ways. Cable sports helped expose the American public to highlights. YouTube let fans see world class goals at the same time Messi emerged on the global stage. Twitter gave American soccer fans the ability to co...

When actors Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds bought Wrexham AFC, it generated significant interest in the United States. Two Hollwood stars attaching themselves to a team in Wales, par of the English football system, gave Americans another way in which they could connect with the beautiful game, globally. But, when they turned it into a sports documentary, it opened the door to soccer for casual f...

Angel City FC brought top flight professional women's soccer back to Los Angeles.. Announced in 2020, the team began playing in 2022. But the process of making that initiative a reality started in 2019 during a conversation between the club's co-founder and CEO, Julie Uhrman, and others. An idea quickly turned into action and within months, Uhrman and team of co-founders were putting together a un...

With the success of Ted Lasso, as well as the growing popularity of soccer documentaries and broader program on streaming services, Hollywood began to seen an opportunity to connect with soccer. In 2020, two different initiatives marked the Hollywoodization of soccer in different ways. Angel CIty FC, a Los Angeles expansion team in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) was announced with a sta...

Ted Lasso was successful because it was a great television show. One that developed lovable characters and compelling storylines. Its award-winning run, alone, made it story worthy for so many media outlets, including For The Win, a USA Today website that covers sports and pop culture. But, it's deep connection to sports put it even more into the zeitgeist, drawing on the deep connection between a...

In August of 2020, when the world was quarantined inside consuming streaming content like never before, Apple TV+ launched Ted Lasso. In search of a hit to match the growing success of Netflix and make themselves a force in the subscription-based streaming wars, Apple took a chance on the creative powers of Jason Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence and others. As well as faith that a promotional skit created...

The rapid evolution of soccer analytics was both influenced and driven by a group of Americans. From the emergence of sabermetrics in baseball, and it's popularization in the book "Moneyball," to the growth of the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, the application of mathematical models to various sports has been a passion of many in the United States. Soccer falls into that category as well....

In 2020, the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference featured a panel entitled, "Soccer Analytics: The Beautiful Game Meets the Analytics Edge." While the broader sporting public was acknowledging that soccer analytics had finally hit the mainstream, it had been evolving for decades. Starting with the work of Charles Reep, who is largely credited as being the first person to capture soccer match dat...

During the 2015 Women's World Cup and then even more so in the 2019 Women's World Cup, fans of the US Women's National Team came to know the name: Dawn Scott . The long time performance coach and sports scientist joined US Soccer in 2010. She remained with the program through multiple coaching changes and then, when the team made history as repeat World Cup Champions, players consistently referenc...

In 2019, the USWNT was attempting to make history as the first women's national team to win back-to-back World Cup titles. Jill Ellis was still at the help and had overseen some turnover from the roster that won the 2015 World Cup -- in fact, about half the roster was different. Despite that, the team still has some of it's most prominent stars, including Megan Rapinoe. A combination of youth and...

The emergence of Julie Johnston, now Julie Ertz, during the 2015 World Cup brought attention to her relationship with Zach Ertz. Their journey together from college athletes to professional athletes and, in the case of Julie, international star, made headlines. As their careers progressed, their place in the sports power couple continuum evolved. And fans of each cheered on the other. Jonathan Tan...

in 2015, en route to a third Women's World Cup victory, new stars emerged for the US Women's National Team. No one's profile was elevated more than Julie Johnston, who at the time went by Julie Johnston. The Santa Clara product had been a key part of the Youth National Team pools, but was on the fringes of the USWNT roster heading into the World Cup Qualifying cycles in 2014. Injuries opened the d...

The 2015 Women's World Cup wasn't just about the US Women's National Team return to the top of the soccer world and winning its third star. It was also an opportunity to showcase the impact American women's soccer had on the rest of the world, by seeing the growth of the field and improvement in competition from other federations. Glenn Davis was on the Fox broadcast team in 2015 and he had the ch...

There were many storylines associated with the US Women's National Team heading into the 2015 Women's World Cup. Jill Ellis was early in her tenure as head coach. Emerging young talents were on the ascension. Alex Morgan was a certified star. But above all, the team was looking for its first World Cup win since 1999. A key group of veterans made the trip to Canada with multiple Olympic gold medals...