Support for sports

If you follow soccer even a bit, you might have heard that the US failed to qualify for the World Cup this past Summer. Granted the United States’ team was not nearly as good as the majority of the rest of the worlds, but this was the first time the US has failed to qualify since 1990. A large part of this is that the culture of soccer in the US is not nearly as prevalent as it is in Spain. The culture of soccer, or as it’s known everywhere else in the world fútbol, has a massive following throughout Europe and especially in Spain. In fact, one of the first things our program mentioned to us when we arrived was that our host family will either have one of two opinions on soccer: that they were a Seville FC family or a Betis family. But either way, the family would have a hard-set opinion on a specific team they support.  

I’ve had the opportunity to watch several Seville F.C. games and Real Madrid games both live and in different bars. No matter the importance of the match, the bar is always packed with avid supporters of the teams. As someone who has played soccer their entire life, I have a great appreciation for the support these fans consistently show. In the United States, we see this support for sports like football and basketball, but, even in comparison to these sports, there is a greater community support for soccer in Seville than I have ever seen in the US.

This may not seem like a prevalent cultural shock, but as someone who has always loved soccer, it was shocking to see how many people support the sport here and how invested people are in their teams. In the US, it’s rare to see someone who's as prideful and supportive of soccer teams as you do here.