Soccer isn’t popular in the US compared to Basketball (NBA) and American football (NFL). This is ironic, considering how the rest of the world treasures football, especially the European football leagues. 

In this article, we’ll review how American soccer differs from European football. Read on to discover why they call it soccer, not football, like the rest of the world. That said, let’s get started! 

It’s All in the Name 

The rest of the world refers to soccer and football as one sport. However, football is a different concept in the U.S., normally used to refer to the most popular sport and league in the country, the NFL. 

Popularity

European football has the most popular leagues in the world, including the EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, and League 1. Platforms like Betway take advantage of these leagues’ popularity to highlight them as major betting options. 

Meanwhile, American soccer has the Major League Soccer (MLS), which is only relatively popular among global football fans. Luckily, the introduction of high-caliber players like Lionel Messi is making the league more popular.

Playing Style

European football strongly emphasizes technical skills, such as ball control, dribbling, and passing. On the other hand, American soccer tends to focus more on athleticism, speed, and power. This emanates from the culture adopted from the NBA and NFL scouting and drafting systems.  

As a result, European football arguably focuses more on a player’s talent. Nonetheless, it is slowly adapting to the American way through new generational players like Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior. 

Academy Systems 

European football has better academy systems, while American soccer focuses more on college programs and club teams. It follows a similar system to that of pro basketball and baseball leagues. 

Christian Pulisic is an interesting example. The AC Milan player is an American who developed under the Chelsea Academy and has continued to excel as the best American soccer player.

League’s Differences

Top European leagues include lower divisions, helping increase their reach and growth for its players. Meanwhile, American soccer is still in the process of introducing lower-division competitions. 

The MLS currently has 29 teams, 26 from the U.S. and 3 from Canada. The top leagues in Europe usually have 18-20 teams. However, various lower divisions, like England’s Championship league, have more teams, 24. 

Promotion and Relegation

Therefore, American soccer has yet to introduce teams’ relegation and promotions. However, it’s normal in European leagues for lowly performing teams to be relegated to lower divisions while the top performers from lower leagues attain promotions to the top leagues. 

For instance, Cádiz, Almería, and Granada were relegated to La Liga 2 (23/24 season), while Leganés, Valladolid, and Espanyol were promoted to La Liga Primera Division. You can follow their progress on Betway in the top division as they battle it out with Barcelona and Real Madrid next season.

Battle for the League Trophy

The American system has the playoff system, where the top teams from Western and Eastern conferences battle in the playoffs. On the other hand, European football follows a points system, where the team with the highest total points wins the league. 

Conclusion 

American Soccer is slowly catching up to European football. For instance, it is in the process of introducing a relegation system. Nonetheless, European football deserves to be a fan favorite due to its better academy systems and general league dynamics.