How the next 18 months could reshape soccer in the U.S. forever (Henry Bushnell, Feb 13, 2025, Yahoo! Sports)
The next 18 months aren’t just an exciting time for the sport; they could reshape it at all ages and levels, for all genders, in a variety of ways across the United States. They’ll conclude with a men’s World Cup right here, at home, but it’s not just that; it’s the Club World Cup, and a bid for the 2031 Women’s World Cup; it’s the dwindling days of Lionel Messi in Miami, and a pivotal period in the still-early days of the NWSL. It’s ongoing talks of overhauls in MLS and college soccer. It’s the opening of a national training center, and the implementation of the “U.S. Way,” U.S. Soccer’s new nationwide player development strategy. It’s the USL, an organization of lower-tier clubs that has ambitious plans to expand — and start a new top-tier men’s league.
It’s possibilities, but also pressure. It’s consequential decisions, and a moment that no American soccer stakeholder wants to miss.
And most of it, of course, is centered around 2026.
The women’s league, in particular, should do anything it has to in order to be more accessible.