By Keith Fletcher
The Congressional Soccer Caucus is a caucus that has taken on the mission to help with legislation, activities and events that promote soccer in the United States. They are also looking to help promote activities that affect the soccer community in general with regards to young citizens.
The caucus has many arms that provide support for them from the outside, among them is the United States Soccer Foundation which provides not just support but critical information for the caucus.
The Congressional Soccer Caucus organizes the annual congressional soccer match which is usually between the Republican and Democratic members of the house. This event has been one of the most exciting hosted by the usually boring congressmen.
The 2017 Congressional Soccer Match took place on May 23rd at the RFK Stadium; it was the 5th of its kind. The Event is part of the U.S. Soccer Foundation’s Capital Soccer Classic which brings together Members of the house of Congress, staff members of embassies, current and former players, congressional staffers, among others.
The Embassy Tournament also saw 15 embassies and the U.S. Department of State employees competing in a mini World Cup-like competition. The Spanish and Italian embassies came out on top in that competition.
Ahead of this year’s competition (2018), the Democrats have won the last three titles; it would be interesting to see if they can maintain their unbeaten run or if they would fall to their first defeat in 4 years.
This year’s Embassy Tournaments would involve 16 embassies who are required to send teams of at least ten players for the games.
The final competition of the day would see Federal staffs compete in the Staffers Competition. To be eligible, staffers need to be federal employees who have a .gov email address which they would have to use for registration.
The games are sponsored by individuals and corporate bodies who are interested, and the U.S. Soccer Foundation uses the sponsorship money to make the tournament accessible to kids living in underserved communities. All proceeds from the games also go to the foundation.
The Congressional Soccer Caucus Support for the FIFA World Cup 2026
With the 2026 FIFA World Cup coming to North America, the Congressional Soccer Caucus through its co-chair Rep. Cathy Castor has thrown its weight behind a joint bid to bring the tournament to this part of the world.
The bid a North American bid with the United States, Canada and Mexico agreeing to co-host the global soccer showdown. The only other nation who bid to host the competition was Morocco.
With Soccer’s increasing popularity in the United States where an estimated 25 million people play the game, a FIFA World Cup would boost the game’s profile in the country and bring huge economic benefits to the United States also.
On June 13, the FIFA Congress met in Moscow, Russia and voted for the joint bid to host the tournament. This competition is also expected to be the first FIFA World Cup that would feature 48 nations after FIFA agreed to expand the tournament from 32 teams.
