No more excuses: World Cup pressure is on host USA“We can no longer have low expectations,” says Alexi Lalas, who became one of the unlikely faces of the 1994 World Cup for the US team. When Fifa awarded the 1994 World Cup to the United States, it came with a condition: the Americans had to establish a top-tier professional league. “It’s actually the third most popular sport in the US — it beats baseball,” said Bettina Garibaldi, chief marketing and communications officer for the Fifa World Cup 26 New York New Jersey Host Committee. The numbers are crazy.”Her club’s ownership of New York City FC means that fan conversion — from casual World Cup viewer to committed supporter — has direct commercial stakes. The 1999 Women’s World Cup, played on home soil and culminating in Brandi Chastain’s iconic penalty-kick celebration, proved that footbal could capture a nation’s imagination.

Source: Bangkok Post March 26, 2026 07:51 UTC