President Donald Trump urged the United States to settle on the side of “football” when it comes to the name of the world’s most popular sport, even suggesting the National Football League (NFL) should change its name to avoid confusion.
The “football vs. soccer” debate has divided fans across the globe for years. While most of the world calls it “football,” the U.S. has stuck by “soccer” and instead used the term “football” to describe what is widely recognized as American Football, the nation’s top sport.
As he collected the FIFA Peace Prize on stage at the draw for the 2026 World Cup, Trump suggested fans from the United States should find a new name for the NFL so as to avoid any confusion.
“When you look at what has happened to football in the United States, which is soccer in the United States, we seem to never call it [football] because we have a little bit of a conflict with another thing that’s called football,” Trump said.
“But when you think about it, shouldn’t it really be called ... this is football, there’s no question about it. We have to come up with another name for the NFL. It really doesn’t make sense when you think about it.”
Why Is it Called Soccer in the United States?
While most common in the United States, the term “soccer” actually has British origins.
The game known as “football” in the United Kingdom is officially recognized as “association football,” to keep itself separate from what is technically known as “rugby football.” Players of the latter would shorten the name to “ruggers”, while “association football” soon became “soccers,” but this term soon died out.
Meanwhile, in North America, the sport of “gridiron football” exploded in popularity long before “association football” made its way across the ocean. Fans would regularly omit “gridiron” from its name, meaning “football” was already taken in the national lexicon. As a result, “soccer” became the preferred name.
The name was formalized during the late 1900s. The United States Football Association became the United States Soccer Football Association in 1945 and ultimately settled on the United States Soccer Federation in 1974.
The NFL, meanwhile, has had its name since 1922.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Donald Trump Suggests Renaming NFL in ‘Football vs. Soccer’ Debate.
