Despite the US’ early Women’s World Cup exit, America’s influence on other competing nations is clear, with dozens of players born or raised in the United States representing national teams including Haiti, Jamaica and more.
A goalkeeper from southern California. A defender from Seattle. A forward from Washington DC.
These are just a few players on the Philippines’ team at this year’s Women’s World Cup – where 18 of the country’s 23-member squad were born in the United States.
And it’s not just the Philippines. Despite the early exit of the US team on Sunday, the influence the country has on other competing nations is clear, with dozens of players born or raised in America representing other teams including Haiti, Jamaica and more.
It’s a reflection of the global nature of the sport, with dual-nationality athletes increasingly hopping across borders to seek better career opportunities, or to connect with parts of their heritage.
But while US-born women soccer players have flowed outward, populating other countries’ teams, the opposite trend has been seen in the US men’s team, with an influx of athletes born or raised overseas.
At the men’s World Cup last year, the US team featured several prominent players with overseas ties, including Fulham defender Antonee Robinson, who was born in the United Kingdom; Netherlands-born Sergiño Dest, who plays for FC Barcelona; and – perhaps most notably – US-born forward Tim Weah, whose father – legendary former striker George Weah – captained Liberia before becoming the West African country’s President.
There are various factors behind this trend, experts say – but it mostly boils down to a massive gap in talent and performance between the US men’s and women’s teams.
The US women’s team has been historically dominant, winning four World Cups (and four Olympic gold medals). In contrast, since reaching the World Cup semi-finals at the inaugural tournament in 1930, the US men’s team have reached the quarter-finals just once and have never been serious contenders for the title.
This stark difference in performance means there’s an “inverse (path) of migration and citizenship options,” said Gijsbert Oonk, director of the Sport and Nation research program at Erasmus University Rotterdam, which focuses on the role of citizenship and migration within football and the Olympic Games.
History of US women’s dominance
The civil rights law Title IX, passed in 1972, is one major reason why the US women’s team is so strong, experts say.
The law, which prohibits sex discrimination at federally funded schools, meant if colleges offered scholarships to male athletes they would have to offer them to female athletes too. Soccer became a pathway to higher education, consequently increasing participation in the game and pushing colleges to invest huge amounts of money in women’s programs.
“In a vacuum where there were practically no resources for women’s sports, Title IX was a game-changer for American female athletes. And since the rest of the world didn’t invest in women’s sports either, it gave the [US women’s team] a huge advantage,” said Leander Schaerlaeckens, a senior lecturer in sports communication at Marist College.
The US was also ahead of the curve – Title IX became federal law a year after a ban on women’s soccer was lifted in England, the country where the modern sport began. In Brazil, a giant of the men’s game, it was still illegal for women to play soccer.
While the rest of the world was changing its attitude towards women’s soccer at a snail’s pace, Title IX gave the US a head start.
