--- title: "How the World Cup Gave Americans Permission to Cheer for America" description: "With the U.S. team advancing at a home World Cup and the nation's 250th birthday days away, an unusual thing is happening in bars and stadiums from Inglewood to Atlanta: Americans are cheering, loudly and without irony, for America." category: "U.S." category_url: https://herald.la/category/us author: "Simone Bishop" published: 2026-07-02T01:05:00.000Z updated: 2026-07-02T01:05:00.000Z canonical: https://herald.la/article/how-the-world-cup-gave-americans-permission-to-cheer-for-america tags: ["World Cup 2026", "soccer", "patriotism", "Fourth of July", "USMNT", "Los Angeles"] --- # How the World Cup Gave Americans Permission to Cheer for America With the U.S. team advancing at a home World Cup and the nation's 250th birthday days away, an unusual thing is happening in bars and stadiums from Inglewood to Atlanta: Americans are cheering, loudly and without irony, for America. For a country that often keeps its patriotic feelings at a wary distance, the 2026 World Cup has done something disarming: it has made rooting for the United States feel easy again. ## The chant in the room Those three syllables — *U-S-A* — have been echoing through sports bars and stadiums all summer. They filled the air after the Americans opened the tournament with a 4-1 win over Paraguay on June 12 and a 2-0 win over Australia a week later, [according to ESPN's match records](https://www.espn.com/soccer/team/results/_/id/660/usa). Even a 3-2 loss to Turkey on June 25 didn't dampen the mood for long: the U.S. still finished first in its group and advanced to the knockout rounds. Now, with the Fourth of July weekend and the country's 250th anniversary landing at the same moment, the tournament has arrived at a strikingly resonant cultural juncture. ## A complicated feeling, simplified by a scoreline Patriotism in the United States has spent years as contested ground, its symbols freighted with politics. Soccer, improbably, has offered a kind of neutral territory. The sport's American fan culture has always been notably multicultural, built in part by immigrant communities who brought their colors and chants from elsewhere. When those same fans turn to cheer the home side, the coalition in the stands feels genuinely broad — supporters with roots across the world waving the same flag. The appeal, in other words, is that it asks nothing beyond the next 90 minutes. There is a scoreboard, a shared opponent and a common hope, and for once pride does not require a footnote. ## A team worth watching The U.S. men's team has given fans real reasons to shout. Captain Christian Pulisic remains the side's most recognizable star, and Folarin Balogun — a striker who chose the United States over England — has been among its key attackers, [CBS Sports reported](https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/world-cup/). The stakes carry an old ache: the U.S. has not won a World Cup knockout-stage match since 2002, a drought that hangs over every elimination game. This is a team that has had to earn its cheers rather than assume them. ## Los Angeles in the spotlight For Los Angeles, a 2026 host city, the moment has a particular texture. SoFi Stadium in Inglewood — normally home to the Rams and Chargers — has been transformed into a venue for the global game. Beyond the marquee crowds, the energy has spilled into neighborhoods across the region, in a city whose relationship with American identity has always been layered, now finding a temporary, uncomplicated ease in it. ## Permission, not pressure What stands out is the absence of obligation. No one is being told to feel proud; the tournament has simply created a context in which pride needs no explanation. Whether the feeling outlasts the final whistle is another matter — matches end, and flags get folded away. But for a few weeks in the summer of 2026, a great many Americans have found that cheering for their country feels less complicated than they remembered, prompted by a game the rest of the world taught them to love. ## Sources - [United States — 2026 World Cup results and schedule](https://www.espn.com/soccer/team/results/_/id/660/usa) - [USMNT 2026 World Cup coverage](https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/world-cup/)