The United States went out 4-1 to Belgium in the round of 16. And somehow, that still felt like progress.
Watch parties packed Columbia restaurants, Greenville bars, and Credit One Stadium on Daniel Island. Fans showed up in USA gear, actually caring. That's not nothing in a state where football, baseball, and basketball have always owned the conversation — and still largely do.
"The more success the U.S. has," said Patrick Burnette, co-owner of Soda City Football Club, "it will bring soccer to the front of our sports mecca here instead of football, baseball and basketball." Burnette runs a club with a regional men's program and youth components for boys and girls. He's banking on World Cup momentum converting into registration forms.
South Carolina already has a deeper soccer foundation than most people realize
Clemson's men have won four NCAA championships, including 2021 and 2023. The program has produced U.S. national teamers in Oguchi Onweyu and Stuart Holden — the latter appearing on the broadcast team for American matches at this tournament.
The University of South Carolina has sent Clint Mathis, Josh Wolff, and Brad Guzan to the national team. The Gamecocks led college soccer nationally in home attendance last season, averaging over 4,300 per game at a stadium that holds 5,700. That's a fanbase, not a footnote.
Then there's Clint Dempsey, who came out of Furman and went on to score 57 international goals — tied with Landon Donovan for the American record. The state's soccer pedigree is legitimate.
"South Carolina has produced some really good players for quite some time," said Tony Annan, the Gamecocks' men's coach, who's heading into his sixth season.
The infrastructure is catching up to the ambition
There are roughly 25,000 registered youth players in the state. South Carolina Youth Soccer — whose stated mission is to make soccer "the preeminent sport in South Carolina" — has launched the South Carolina Premiere Alliance to raise the ceiling on youth competition. High school coach Kevin Heise says the school game is more relevant now than it's ever been, with participation growing not just at varsity level but at JV and middle school too.
At the professional level, the Charleston Battery have been running since 1993 — the oldest continually operating pro soccer club in the country. They're averaging just under 4,000 fans this season at a 5,012-capacity ground, and they're one of only seven of 25 USL Championship clubs to post an attendance increase this year. Youth groups fill the stands and mob the players afterward.
The 2030 World Cup, marking the tournament's centenary, is already on the horizon. And when the U.S. co-hosted in 1994, MLS followed shortly after — still running today, with Lionel Messi drawing crowds in Miami. The pattern of big tournaments leaving infrastructure behind is real.
"It can get better and better here," said Annan. An Englishman who attended three of England's games this summer, he knows what a soccer culture actually looks like — and he thinks South Carolina is closer than outsiders assume.
