The World Cup is a smash but America still isn’t a soccer country, poll suggests

This World Cup has given U.S. soccer fans plenty to cheer about — even if a new survey shows most Americans are still on the sidelines. New polling from Ipsos Sports, provided exclusively to The Associated Press, shows that the World Cup has excited soccer fans and piqued many Americans’ interest, even as the sport faces an uphill climb to reach mainstream popularity in the United States. Despite that challenge, many U.S. adults were excited about the United States making it to the knockout round of the World Cup. Most soccer fans in the U.S. have been pleased by the U.S. men’s national team performance, and the overwhelming majority are excited for the rest of the World Cup. The poll was conducted June 26-28, after the United States advanced from the group stage but before they won against Bosnia-Herzegovina in the first knockout round. Soccer fans are excited by the USMNT’s performance About 6 in 10 soccer fans were “extremely” or “very” excited about the U.S. advancing to the knockout round, much higher than the 25% of Americans overall who said the same. The United States has historically lost once they reached the knockout rounds. Before Wednesday, they had last won a knockout game in 2002. Though this poll was conducted before the United States’ victory against Bosnia-Herzegovina, fans were already giving the U.S. men’s team credit for having a strong showing in the group stage. Most soccer fans, 55%, said the U.S. team’s performance was going “extremely well” or “very well.” One-quarter, roughly, believed it was going “somewhat well.” Similarly, about half of soccer fans say the United States’ role in co-hosting the World Cup is going at least “very” well. There’s less enthusiasm for FIFA’s role in managing the World Cup. Only about one-third of soccer fans in the U.S. say that’s going “extremely” or “very” well. During the tournament, FIFA has faced criticism for enforcing mandated hydration breaks that some say ruin the m