President Donald Trump has publicly urged the United States to stop calling the global game soccer and instead adopt the term football, saying American football should be renamed to avoid confusion over which sport truly deserves the word.
His comments came on December 5, 2025, at the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw in Washington, D.C., where he said the country should come up with another name for the NFL so that soccer can simply be called football like it is in most of the world.
What Trump said at the World Cup draw
Trump made his remarks on stage at the Kennedy Center in Washington during the official draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which the United States will co‑host with Canada and Mexico. Speaking shortly after receiving FIFA’s inaugural Peace Prize, he argued that the sport Americans call soccer should instead be known as football in the U.S., and that the National Football League should eventually be renamed to clear up the clash in terminology.
He told the audience that the country never calls the world’s game football because the word is already taken by another sport, before insisting that the round‑ball game is the one that truly fits the name and that the NFL stuff should carry a different label. Multiple outlets reported that the crowd at the draw responded with applause, and social clips of his comments quickly spread across sports and political social media accounts.
Key event timeline
| Date | Event | Location | Key point |
| March 2025 | Trump signs an executive order creating a federal task force to support the 2026 World Cup, chairing it himself with Vice President JD Vance as deputy. | Washington, D.C. | Formalizes the White House’s role in preparations for the tournament. |
| December 5, 2025 | Trump receives FIFA’s first Peace Prize and appears at the World Cup draw ceremony. | Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C. | Uses his speech to say soccer should be called football in the U.S. and suggests the NFL needs a new name. |
Event and political context
The remarks came at a high‑profile moment as FIFA and U.S. organizers showcased the 2026 World Cup to a global TV audience and international dignitaries. Trump’s appearance at the draw followed weeks of attention over his relationship with FIFA president Gianni Infantino and his award of the federation’s first Peace Prize, which recognized his past role in diplomatic deals in the Middle East and support for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Coverage from sports and political outlets noted that the naming comments were delivered in Trump’s typically free‑wheeling style, mixing praise for soccer’s growth in the U.S. with a meandering critique of why American football uses the same word. Some reports framed the intervention as part of a broader effort by the White House to align more closely with global football culture ahead of 2026, while also keeping Trump at the center of the World Cup narrative.
The long-running soccer vs football debate
Trump’s intervention touches a cultural fault line that has existed for more than a century: most of the world has long called the sport football, while the United States (and to a lesser extent Canada) largely stuck with soccer. Historians point out that the word soccer actually originated in England in the late 19th century as slang derived from association football, but it fell out of use in Britain and remained common only in North America.
Globally, fans and media usually distinguish the two sports by calling the NFL‑style game American football, reserving football without qualifiers for the World Cup version. In the U.S., though, football overwhelmingly refers to the NFL, college and high school gridiron game, while soccer has remained the minority term despite rapid growth of Major League Soccer, the NWSL and youth participation over the past two decades.
How the terms are used
| Term | Main meaning | Where it is standard | Notes |
| Football | Association football (World Cup sport). | Europe, Latin America, Africa, most of Asia and Oceania. | Default word for the sport in most countries and in FIFA competitions. |
| Soccer | Association football. | Primarily United States and Canada. | Coined in England as slang but largely abandoned there; kept in North America. |
| American football | Gridiron football (NFL‑style). | Used outside the U.S. to distinguish from association football. | In the U.S., usually shortened simply to football. |
Reactions and what could actually change
Early media coverage focused on how Trump’s comments reopened the familiar football vs soccer argument and put pressure on U.S. fans and leagues to react, even though no formal policy proposal has been announced. Reports from major outlets emphasized that his suggestion was rhetorical and that there is no sign yet of concrete steps to compel any governing body or league to change its official name.
On social media, clips of the speech drew a mix of amusement, criticism and support, with some fans arguing that aligning with global terminology would help the sport’s image in America, while others insisted the NFL’s brand is too entrenched to rebrand. As of the weekend after the draw, coverage did not feature any official public reaction from the NFL, MLS or U.S. Soccer leadership, suggesting the issue remains more of a culture‑war talking point than an active rebranding process.
From a practical standpoint, any renaming of football in the U.S. would be driven by private organizations rather than law, because league names, team brands and logos are protected trademarks and commercial properties. Changes to the NFL or MLS names would therefore require voluntary decisions by team owners, league commissioners and sponsors, with potentially huge costs for rebranding, merchandising and broadcasting. Legal experts also generally note that an executive order cannot unilaterally force private leagues to abandon their trademarks, although it might change how federal agencies refer to the sports in official documents.
Outlook ahead of the 2026 World Cup
Trump’s call to reserve the word football for the global game adds another layer to the U.S. run‑up to the 2026 World Cup, which will be the largest in history and see 11 American cities host matches. With the president chairing a federal task force for the tournament, his comments signal that he intends to stay personally involved in how the event is promoted and discussed at home, even down to language choices.
Whether the NFL or other stakeholders take his suggestion seriously remains uncertain, but the episode has already guaranteed that the naming debate will feature heavily in media coverage as the tournament approaches. For now, the practical impact is limited to public discourse, yet the global spotlight of 2026 means the question of whether America sticks with soccer or joins the rest of the world in saying football is unlikely to fade any time soon.
