Soccer’s long-awaited conquest of the American sports landscape has ultimately taken a different turn, and the World Cup is coming to a close looking more and more like what one would expect from an American spectacle. While the 1994 World Cup provided the decisive impetus for the creation of Major League Soccer, the 2026 World Cup in the United States was expected to be the spearhead that would allow soccer to carve out a niche among the major American sports.
The more than 6.5 million fans who have attended games at the stadiums (more than the total attendance in Russia and Qatar combined) and the viewership for all matches—with audiences in the millions—speak to the tournament’s success. For just over a month, soccer has been the centerpiece of sports broadcasts, but the way it has been presented has brought it much closer to the American concept of entertainment, FIFA.
Hydration breaks turned into downtime
First came the decision to sell water breaks as advertising space.
Given the risk of extreme temperatures, FIFA decided that the match would be paused for three minutes at the 22-minute mark of each half so that the players could rehydrate.
A measure intended to protect the players’ health, but which resulted in a basketball-style timeout.
First, because most television networks sold that airtime to advertisers.
And then, because the coaches used it to give instructions to their teams.
The first was the coach of the U.S. national team, the Argentine Mauricio Pocchetino.
He pulled out a laptop to show his team the mistakes they had made against Paraguay in the first game.
And then the rest of the coaches followed suit, using the break to change the dynamics of the game.
The World Cup has been a complete success
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“It’s a different situation than the one we’ve had to adapt to. There are actually four phases.”
“We end up using it, too, although a minute and a half is enough for us.”
“But that’s about all the time we have to talk during halftime—between when you go off the field, come back on, and hydrate,” Lionel Scaloni said on the matter.
These mandatory stoppages—whether it was hot or not—made the games more even.
The teams that had been on the defensive took a breather, and the dominant teams, as a general rule, struggled to regain the same intensity (Filed under: 2026 World Cup Changes Forever).
A Super Bowl-style halftime show
The 2026 World Cup stole the show from the Super Bowl halftime show.
The World Cup will hold its pre-closing ceremony, featuring performances by Laura Pausini and Robbie Williams, among others.
But there will also be a halftime show featuring Shakira, Madonna, and the K-pop group BTS, which may delay the start of the second half.
This already happened at the 2024 Copa América, which was also held in the U.S.
After coaches whose teams took the field late in the second half during the tournament were suspended for a number of matches, Shakira performed for seven minutes during the final.
Between setting up and taking down the stage and preparing the playing field, the restart of the match was delayed by 26 minutes (Filed under: 2026 World Cup Changes Forever).
Rings for the Champions
The latest development has been the announcement that the champions will receive a ring, similar to those awarded in Major League Baseball, the NBA, American football, and ice hockey.
“FIFA will adopt this hallmark of American sports and present rings to the winners of this year’s World Cup.”
As the International Federation itself points out.
It marks the final “colonization” of the World Cup by the American sense of spectacle.
A step that will face a difficult road ahead in four years.
When Spain, Morocco, and Portugal—along with the opening matches to be played in South America—host the tournament, each with a completely different soccer culture (Filed under: 2026 World Cup Changes Everything).
With information from EFE
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