The Big Bounce: The Surge That Shaped the Future of U.S. Soccer
By Alan Rothenberg
Triumph Books, Feb. 10
Major League Soccer founder and industry stalwart Rothenberg shares this first-person view of the sport’s growth in the U.S., focusing on the key period between 1984 and 1999 that saw American soccer evolve from a curiosity into a main draw.
World Cup Fever: A Soccer Journey in Nine Tournaments
By Simon Kuper
Pegasus Books, March 3
Author Kuper, who has attended every World Cup since 1990, takes readers on a first-person adventure through each of those tournaments, tracing how the sport has evolved and the ways it’s changed the world.
Landon: A Memoir
By Landon Donovan
Page Two, March 24
The decorated U.S. men’s national team legend offers this account of his life and career, opening up to readers about his struggles with mental health and his pursuit of self-acceptance, both on and off the field.
The Great Game: A Tale of Two Footballs and America’s Quest to Conquer Global Sport
By Andrés Martinez
Bloomsbury Academic, April 2
Martinez leverages his journalistic and academic expertise to examine how technology-driven business trends and America’s changing cultural demographics have elevated soccer’s importance in the country’s sporting pantheon.
American Soccer Nation: The Remarkable 150-Year History of Yanks on a Roll, from Mob Football to the Modern Game
By Mark C Franek
BenBella Books, April 28
Educator and sportswriter Franek provides a comprehensive overview of elite men’s soccer in the U.S., laying out a road map of where the sport has been — reaching as far back as Native American games — and where it can go on the modern global stage.
Soccernomics (2026 World Cup Edition): Why European Men and American Women Usually Win ― and American Men Don’t (Yet)
By Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski
Bold Type Books, May 5
This well-known joint effort from a journalist and economist, first published in 2009, catches readers up on the state of play ahead of the World Cup, incorporating analysis of recent topics such as Lionel Messi’s move to MLS.
How to Watch Soccer Like a Genius: What Architects, Stuntwomen, Paleoanthropologists, and Computer Scientists Reveal About the World’s Game
By Nick Greene
Abrams Press, May 12
Sports and culture writer Greene draws on knowledge across a wide-ranging spectrum to help dissect and demystify soccer, offering intriguing lenses through which to interpret the most popular sport on Earth.
The Long Game: U.S. Men’s Soccer and Its Savage, Four-Decade Journey to the Top, or Thereabouts
By Leander Schaerlaeckens
Viking, May 12
Longtime soccer writer Schaerlaeckens charts the evolution of the U.S. men’s national team, from its early days (and decades) of being an afterthought to the lofty aspirations it now holds ahead of a World Cup on American soil.
Relegated: One American’s Pints-and-Pies Journey from the Top to the Bottom of English Football
By Todd Smith
Gallery Brooks, May 19
A former soccer player and lifelong enthusiast, Smith recounts a multi-month pilgrimage — and journey of self-discovery — that spanned the United Kingdom in search of what moves ever-passionate English football fans the most.
The Messi Effect: How the Global Legend Changed the Future of American Soccer
By Paul Tenorio
St. Martin’s Press, June 2
The Athletic’s Tenorio gives readers behind-the-scenes access to Lionel Messi’s arrival in Miami, pulling back the curtain on the breadth of on-field and economic impact the superstar’s presence has had on MLS and U.S. soccer culture at large.
