The 1994 World Cup, hosted by the United States, was a pivotal moment in the development of interest in soccer in America. It built momentum for the launch of Major League Soccer. By the end of the decade, the U.S. women’s national team had won the World Cup (again).

A dedicated group of Premier League fans in the U.S. has held the torch aloft, and some bars fill up with these fans at 10 a.m. on a Sunday. It is a kind of social club you can join. Meanwhile, the fame of the very top stars who are featured in Champions League games has grown global.

But the biggest reason, of course, is mass immigration from the global south. I remember being stunned by the number of children in my child’s elementary school’s “moving up” ceremony who said they wanted to play soccer in the World Cup or for Real Madrid. It was five times the number of boys who said they wanted to play professional baseball.

Soccer’s biggest hurdle in America is probably the money-grubbing of the youth soccer “academies.” In some European nations, major clubs basically sponsor and monitor the game all the way down to the small-town level. Germany designed the system to find and cultivate the best talent. America’s system, by and large, reserves the best training to those who are willing to pay the most for it. MLS-sponsored academies are a notable and welcome exception.