Enjoyed the World Cup? Here's your 101 guide to the club game
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- The 2026-27 club soccer season is already underway for some leagues, with the first Champions League qualifying round beginning July 7 — the same day Argentina beat Egypt in the World Cup round of 16.
- Manchester City led all clubs with 19 players on World Cup rosters, including star striker Erling Haaland, who has scored 162 goals for the club in four seasons and emerged as a breakout American fan favorite this summer.
- The Premier League dominates the World Cup talent pipeline, with six of the 18 clubs that employed at least 10 World Cup players coming from England's top flight; Arsenal had 15, Manchester United 12, and Liverpool 10.
- FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich deploy the boldest, most aesthetically pleasing attacks in the sport — Barça features teenage star Lamine Yamal plus Spain's World Cup winners, while Bayern added Harry Kane, Michael Olise, and Luis Díaz.
- America's soccer fan base now exceeds 60 million people per a Nielsen survey (potentially the fourth-largest globally), and The Economist found more Americans list soccer as their favorite sport than baseball.
- Early-season marquee matches include Arsenal vs. Manchester City in the Community Shield (Aug. 14-16), Bayern Munich at Borussia Dortmund in the German Supercup (Aug. 21-23), and the Bundesliga and Serie A kickoffs Aug. 28-30.
Why it matters: With 60 million-plus American fans now in the funnel and six of the world's 18 most World Cup-connected clubs sitting in the English top flight, newcomers will overwhelmingly encounter Premier League broadcasts on weekends — making Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Liverpool the de facto gateway clubs for a U.S. audience that just crossed the soccer threshold.
