The World Cup is here – What the US fan needs to know about English football culture, from a lifer

For the past eight years, The England International Football ( soccer ) Team have heavily flirted with success without actually achieving any. The men, that is, the women’s team have a habit of making winning look quite straightforward. This year, as the World Cup rolls into North America, not too much is different regarding us England fans and what we expect. The inevitable conversations on how England can progress to the final will have been floating around pubs and work places up and down the country for weeks: “We can go all the way if we get a kind draw and if Harry Kane is firing and fully fit.” What is different is that two of the three hosting countries (Canada and the USA) have a much more trivial and historically indifferent relationship with the sport itself. Recent Google Trends history has outed the soccer watching public as generally having no idea what to sing or chant when the game is going on. “How do football chants start” and “how do soccer fans know what to chant” are the top soccer chant “how…” searches of all time in the USA. So, much to learn…. Here are some things to know ahead of the World Cup in 2026: Win or lose we are on the booze British football culture has a very deep (about six pints deep) relationship with drinking. Long before football grounds became gigantic stadia-type behemoths, they were built, almost integrated into the very areas they represented. This meant that the thousands of fans would mostly, almost exclusively just walk to the ground to watch the game after meeting in dozens of local pubs beforehand, drink throughout the game then head back to the pub regardless of the result - to debrief. We called this: Saturday. Coventry City's former home - Highfield Road - with the surrounding Hillfields neighbourhood built around it (Hulton Archive) An aerial view of Arsenal's Emirates Stadium, which was built to replace the historic Highbury (Getty Images) The ref is always a w***er Any sports fan can get on board with this. There is no non-partisan way to watch your team. If, this summer, Tyler Adams cynically takes down Lionel Messi as he breaks into the USA’s 18-yard-box and receives a totally justified red card as a result then, you guessed it, the ref is a w****r. How dare he do his job! Obscure songs based on no-longer popular radio hits from two decades ago “Southgate you’re the one, you still turn me on - football’s coming home again!” A song dedicated to the lovely waistcoat wearing ex-England manager Gareth Southgate based on the British pop song ‘Whole Again’ by Atomic Kitten from 2000. How do these songs come about? Frankly, we are just much more creative than American sports fans. ‘DEFENSE’ is not a chant, it’s a part of the job. No, the most famous England song of the modern era actually came about, like all great football songs, by trial and error. All it takes is a spark, one fan, or a group of fans just blasting out the song and seeing how it takes, whether it’s inside the stadium or on the walk to the ground, if it’s catchy it will take. Another factor to take into account, is the natural progression of the game itself. Two halves not four quarters… sort of The fluidity of a game of football, not broken up by commercial breaks or timeouts means there is simply more time to have a real sing-song.That said, Fifa are doing their damndest to change that this summer as hydration breaks will be introduced 22 minutes through each half of football. “For every game, no matter where the games are played, no matter if there's a roof, [or] temperature-wise, there will be a three-minute hydration break,” said chief tournament officer Manolo Zubiria. Regardless of temperature is the real tell here, as these three minute breaks will be used as a commercial break, because America, because of course. Spanish language broadcaster Telemundo are the real heroes here as it has announced it will not air commercials during these three minute breaks. Pelted by pints is a right of passage One of the side effects of England’s recent dalliance with success is the phenomena of throwing often full pints of beer through the air whenever the team scores. Chucking beer has long been a part of the UK’s colourful and subtle culture but it seeped heavily into football during the 2018 World Cup. Here is an account, from The Independent during the World Cup in Russia 2018 on how it all came to pass: “It had taken several thousand plastic pints of beer and, as one bewildered news report put it, “clouds of fermented mist” but Croydon was now the benchmark for something. Just two minutes from East Croydon station - or an eight-minute trudge from the nearest Nando’s - the 2,000-capacity Boxpark venue has become the Ground Zero for an explosive phenomenon: performative pint-throwing.” Beers rain down on fans at Boxpark in London (Getty Images) Launching pints of $8 beer in bars across the US is generally frowned upon as plastic cups isn’t really a thing here (at least in New York) but with fan parks planned across the country, it might catch on. Just remember, if the liquid is warm, it’s probably not beer. Ask your Premier League supporting friend A lot has changed since 1994 though, the last time the USA hosted the World Cup. The English Premier League has become a huge marketable product across the globe and is the most watched ‘soccer’ league in the US. Earlier this year, Arsenal’s defeat to Manchester City became the most watched Premier League fixture in history in the states. Those who follow soccer clubs will know all about soccer culture - be it English, European or South American but for the casual fan who might just be getting to grips with The Beautiful Game this World Cup could be a shock to the system.