Ahad of the World Cup showdown between the US Men’s National Team (USMNT) and England on Friday, US Soccer Federation CEO and Secretary General JT Batson told CNN that the team is feeling ready for the competition.
“The team looks good; the team is feeling good, they were in good spirits. … England looked great in the first game and we know we’ve got some stiff competition, but the guys are up for it, which we’re excited about,” he told CNN’s Becky Anderson.
“The team is confident. We have a great record in the World Cup against England, and we look to keep that rolling today,” he said.
The last time the US participated at the men’s World Cup was eight years ago. And with the match falling during the Thanksgiving holiday, it could be the most-watched game of soccer in US history.
“My entire family was reorienting our Thanksgiving plans around being together to watch this game; I know our family was not alone in that. The numbers are going to be incredible, the excitement is palpable and we’re looking forward to it,” Batson said.
So far, Qatar World Cup ticket sales have surpassed 3 million according to FIFA, with America ranking as one of the top nations in those sales. Batson said that speaks to the growth of the game in the US.
“Americans love big competitions, and of course, we love to win. Nothing gets bigger than the World Cup. The growth of the game in the States has been incredible over the past few decades. … I think this is only going to grow,” he said, adding that he predicts the US will dominate the most tickets sold at the Women’s World Cup next year.
In a historic accomplishment, the US Soccer Federation and the United States Women’s National Team USWNT reached an agreement to end a dispute over equal pay in February. Asked why it took so long, he told CNN that they have “long been committed to this.”
“One of the biggest obstacles was actually the FIFA World Cup prize money because, it’s not just equal pay on what US Soccer pays the players, it’s also equalizing the World Cup prize money. And how do you do that when the men’s World Cup prize money is demonstrably larger than the women’s? They agreed to share, so it’s really transformational in terms of what it means not just for football or soccer, but for what it means broadly for sport and society. We’re really proud of that,” he said.
“We’ve long been a leader in women’s football, we know the rest of the world is fortunately now investing in that which is exciting, and we want to continue that investment to be the leader for decades to come,” he continued.
The USMNT showed their support for the LGBTQ+ community by having a rainbow-themed team logo inside their training facility. Batson said that speaks to the team’s “long history of supporting the LGBTQ community.”
“One of the beauties of America is its diversity. We have players from all over the world, from all over the country, all sorts of different backgrounds and different perspectives. So we really want to give them the platform to advocate on things that are important to them, whether it’s gun violence, Black Lives Matter, basic human rights. Anything beyond that, we want to support them,” he said.
