The Challenge of Successfully Rearing the Next World Cup Champion

Soccer Is Booming in the United States

The FIFA World Cup returns to the United States this summer for the first time in 32 years. Currently the most popular sport worldwide, this year’s World Cup coincides with an increase in popularity in the United States, including both viewership and youth sports participation. Soccer is currently the third most popular youth sport in America, behind basketball and baseball.³⁶ Additionally, there has been a rapid growth in both interest and exposure to the professional level, with over 90 professional clubs in America, and the most recent MLS season experiencing a 59% increase in viewership to 9.7 million viewers.³⁷ 

International interest in soccer from the United States has also increased, with 23.5% growth in Premier League viewership and 3.7 million Americans watching the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup Final. Given the sport’s growing popularity, there is strong interest from parents in raising the next generation of US soccer players.  

What does this entail from the perspective of youth athletes, parents, and coaches? This article aims to summarize the current state of youth soccer in America, the barriers in progressing to higher levels, and common injuries that arise during this journey to potentially becoming the next “World Cup Champion.” 

Socioeconomic Issues Play a Big Role in Development

Soccer has been one of the most popular youth sports in the United States due to easy accessibility and low equipment costs. However, what was once a school or community-based organization has increasingly transitioned to private clubs and academies. Beginning as young as six years old, these costs can exceed $10,000 per year for a single youth athlete, often limiting access to middle- and upper-class families.¹ In addition to annual club fees, players who wish to continue at an elite level are often required to attend national tournaments which comes with associated registration and travel costs, adding up to $3,000 per year. Further costs arise from athletes seeking out additional training and instruction. This results in a decreased and less varied talent pool as young athletes are priced out.² Additional travel and prolonged seasons put further stress on the athletes’ families, with entire weekends being lost for tournaments and timing of athletic events around typical vacation times such as spring and summer breaks. 

This pay-to-play model results in more practice sessions per week, more games per season, and increased overall travel distance.³ It’s become such as “business” that many clubs even prohibit their young players from participating on their own high school teams. While sports participation benefits athletes and their families, commitments that exceed available support can negatively affect physical and mental health.⁴ Studies of high-level youth soccer players have demonstrated increased depression, anxiety, and mood disorders in those without adequate support from families and coaching staffs.^5,6 Despite families trending toward more commitment at a younger ages, there has not been an association worldwide with a younger age of starting professional development and the odds of making a country’s World Cup roster.¹⁰ 

“Burnout,” characterized by physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion as well as persistent decrease in performance, can also significantly hamper the development and enjoyment of youth athletes.³⁸ The impacts of burnout can extend beyond athletics and impact athletes’ personal and social lives and is present in a significant percentage of youth athletes. Burnout has been shown to be associated with single sport specialization, prolonged training, and increased pressure from parents and coaches. Although rest is the cornerstone of burnout treatment, prevention is essential to protecting young athletes. Flexible training regimens, variation in activity type and competition level, and scheduled short breaks from activity are crucial to ensure burnout is avoided.³⁹ 

Parents Need to Know the “Truth” About Advancing to the Next Level

Youth athletes need to understand the odds when it comes to progressing up the developmental ladder. US Youth Soccer estimates there are up to 4 million kids playing soccer between ages six to 17.⁷ This number decreases to an estimated 450,000 active in boys high school soccer and 18,000 involved in MLS Next development organizations.^8,9 Of these, 10% will continue to play at the collegiate level, with less than 1% making a NCAA Division I roster.⁸ There is strong incentive for this top level, with an estimated value of $120,000 per year associated with a Division I scholarship. This number continues to decrease at the professional level, with approximately 900 MLS spots available each season, although numerous opportunities are available in other international leagues, with the 26 best American players chosen each four years to represent the United States in the World Cup.³⁷ 

Navigating Common Injuries and Preventing Career-Ending Injuries Is of Paramount Importance

Increasing demands of youth athletes, including more time spent training and early specialization, had increased in incidence of overuse injuries.¹¹ Overuse injuries in youth soccer occur at a rate of 1.7 to 19.4 per 1,000 athlete-hours for initial injury and an estimated two-fold increase for repeat injury. Nearly half of soccer overuse injuries involve the knee. ^12,13 Most overuse injuries are muscle strains of the lower leg and sprains of the knee, but ankle sprains and acute tendinopathies are also common. ¹⁴ These overuse injuries are easily managed with nonoperative interventions and more importantly preventable with appropriate training. Hamstring strengthening in youth soccer players has been shown to reduce overuse injuries about the knee.¹² While nonmodifiable factors are also involved, such as relative age to competition and leg length, appropriate training and conditioning are crucial in preventing overuse injury in kids with increased youth athletic demands.¹³ The FIFA 11+ Kids Program is a neuromuscular training program which has been shown to be beneficial regarding overuse injuries.¹⁵ This is especially important as kids reach their peak height velocity, which coincides with both increased risk of overuse injury and the beginning of sports specialization.^16,17 A consensus statement from AOSSM recommended against early sports specialization for athletes as it has been shown to increase rates of burnout and overuse injury while also not benefiting athletes in the long-term with regards to professional/Olympic performance, and perhaps being detrimental.¹⁶ 

Over the past several years, youth sports as seen a significant increase in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries, with female soccer athletes having the highest relative risk, and athletes participating at a club level having a higher risk compared to those only in high school sports.^18,19 ACL injuries are significant for young athletes because of both short-term and long-term issues that arise. With surgical intervention recommended for youth athletes with ACL injuries, there is the immediate time lost due to injury, up to 12 months, as well as the risk of up to 18% of athletes not returning to sports participation after injury.²⁰ Athletes with ACL injury and subsequent reconstruction are also at higher risk of having subsequent injuries including disturbed physeal growth, meniscal pathology, arthritis, osteochondritis dessicans, and ACL rerupture.^21,22 ACL injuries are occurring in younger populations, and reinjury rates continue to rise in young athletes returning to high-level sports.^23,24 These concerns have driven efforts to identify athletes at risk for ACL injury and develop training programs aimed at preventing initial injury.^25-29 Similar neuromuscular-focused training and rehabilitation protocols as described above have been used following ACL reconstruction with improved return to sport rates and decreased re-tear rates (30,31). 

Concussions are another significant injury affecting youth athletes. There has not only been an increased awareness of their long-term consequences but also increased awareness of their prevalence and appropriate return to play protocols, especially as it relates to youth athletics.³² These risks continue as athletes progress to higher levels of competition, with several reviews of recent World Cup matches demonstrating around 2.3 significant head collisions per match with up to 15% of athletes demonstrating red flag symptoms.^33,34 Numerous low-impact head contact events also occur throughout a soccer match each time a player performs a header. The long-term impact of these repetitive impacts has not been fully studied. Concussions are always going to be a risk in both contact and collision sports. Early detection and appropriate recovery are important for preventing long-term complications, especially in youth athletes.³⁵ 

Ultimate Keys to Success

The path from youth athlete to World Cup champion is a long and difficult journey to navigate, but it’s not impossible. A growing interest in soccer in the United States has led many to wonder how we can effectively raise the next generation of athletes to appropriately prepare them.  

Several keys lie in reforming and improving the current development structure, with a primary focus on removing barriers to participation and increasing exposure for more athletes across the board, especially in underrepresented urban and rural areas. 

For each young athlete, an individualized approach needs to be employed, with an emphasis on participation in varied activities while young, appropriate injury-prevention focused training, and a schedule of participation that allows appropriate intervals of rest and recuperation to prevent burnout.  

And at the end of the day, some of a young athlete’s success also relates to good genetics and a little luck. Having a child who is athletically gifted, psychologically motivated, easily coached, and is both resistant to injury and resilient in recovery, will go a long way in producing the next World Cup Champion.   

But it will also take a team, as well as a commonsense approach as outlined above, that will help them to get there.

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