Women's World Cup

Capturing the nation's attention

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The United States women’s soccer team not only made history with their 5-2 victory over Japan in the World Cup final on July 5, but also made television history, reeling in 25.4 million viewers on FOX, making it the most watched soccer game — men’s or women’s — in the United States.

Last Friday, thousands of people ventured to lower Manhattan to cheer for the team as they made their way down the “Canyon of Heroes,” celebrating the World Cup victory. It was the first female sports team honored with a ticker-tape parade in New York.

One fan, Julia Dellamonica, who made her way up to Manhattan from Philadelphia, said she was ecstatic to see her heroes in person. “I think it’s great, especially for women and women’s soccer,” Dellamonica said about the women’s national team winning their third World Cup, and first since 1999. “I think [this win] will help big time growing the sport, especially for little kids, since in this country we are behind in [the growth of] soccer.”

Rurik Sanchez, of Queens, said he has been an enthusiastic fan of U.S. national soccer since 1994. “This World Cup win will help bring more notice to the states,” He said. “It is growing tremendously compared to many of the other sports.”

Many have speculated what has spurred soccer’s growing nationwide popularity. One fan, Loc Nyugen, said at last week’s parade that it is due in part to immigrants bringing their love of the game with them to the U.S. “You get a lot of soccer fans moving into the United States, bringing their soccer heritage with them, which definitely helps the sport.” He also noted an increase in the popularity of the FIFA soccer video game franchise. In a report by Forbes, FIFA ‘15 was the ninth most popular video game in 2014.

Another possible reason for the growth in the popularity of the sport is simply because of the nature of the game and its appeal to younger audiences. Similar to hockey, soccer is a free-flowing and fast-paced, with little stoppages. With such few breaks in the game, viewers are easily able to stay engaged.

Regardless of the reasoning behind it, millions of people enjoyed watching the U.S. women take home their third World Cup, and exact revenge on Japan, who defeated them in a shootout in the 2011 World Cup final. Jesse Leon, from New Jersey, put it best, commenting on the team’s dominant performance in the World Cup final: “Watching them beat Japan was like watching a bull dozer run over an ant.”