Why Do People in the US Call Football Soccer?

Millions across the globe live and breathe football, but in two countries hosting the 2026 World Cup, the sport goes by a different name. In the United States and Canada, it is called soccer. Why is that? And does this term bother football fans elsewhere?

The Origins of 'Soccer'

Stefan Szymanski, a professor emeritus at the University of Michigan who grew up in England during the 1960s and 1970s, recalls that the word soccer was once widely accepted there. The fuss over whether to say football or soccer seemed odd to him, so he started investigating. According to him, people back then didn’t mind the word soccer.

Szymanski’s research points to football’s roots as a game favored by the upper class. The founders of the Football Association in England in 1863 were graduates from elite schools like Oxford. The official term for the sport was "association football," used to differentiate it from rugby football, another popular game of the time.

From Association Football to Soccer

In the late 19th century, students at prestigious universities had a habit of shortening words and adding "-er" at the end as slang. For example, breakfast became brekker, and rugby football turned into rugger. It’s believed that they took the "soc" from association and added "-er," thus creating the word soccer.

"No one can say for sure, but it’s well documented that soccer was coined by Oxford students," Szymanski says.

Soccer's Journey Across the Globe

Sports historian Andy Mitchell found early printed uses of soccer or socker in English school magazines dating back to 1885. The word spread along with the sport itself, appearing in places like Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Canada.

In the US, the term football refers to a different sport—American football—which evolved from rugby but borrowed some elements from soccer. Because American football gained popularity around the same time soccer was named, the two terms diverged.

British newspapers continued using soccer alongside football well into the 1980s, though football eventually became the preferred term. Today, British people sometimes find the word soccer a bit sensitive, but it remains an English word, freely used without offense.

A Note on Usage

In university classes, Szymanski hears Americans often apologize for saying soccer, expecting British audiences to be bothered. He tells them it’s perfectly acceptable since soccer originated in England.