Rival nations have caught up and the US’s World Cup failure is in part due to a faltering youth production line undermined by an inequitable pay-to-play model
The real reasons the USA failed were obvious. The coach isn’t great, they were missing key players through injury, and carried too many who are obviously past their best.
“I’ve an ECNL kid, ECNL being the top level of soccer, and we are shelling out probably $30,000 easy a year, just expenses. How many families can do that? It’s crazy what the families are asked to do. And the impact of travelling on top of that.” Julie Foudy: 'I’ve an ECNL kid, ECNL being the top level of soccer, and we are shelling out probably $30,000 easy a year, just expenses.' Photograph: Hanna Lassen/Gettty
Aside from limiting the selection pool to a tiny, wealthy demographic, the pay-to-play model negatively affects the type of players produced. Youth coaches earn big money running elite travel teams so are under serious pressure to win. Every game. This, eventually, led to the boom in women’s collegiate soccer with participation rates growing from 1,855 players in 1982 to 28,000 in 2020. The foundation stone for America’s emergence as the pre-eminent nation in the distaff game in the 1990s, its universities attracted the best talent from all over the planet.
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