Soccer ball imports hit record high ahead of 2026 World Cup

America has caught World Cup fever, and it is showing up in an unlikely place: trade data.

Ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, hosted by the United States alongside Canada and Mexico, it was not only fans gearing up to see their teams in action, but businesses started stocking up on soccer-related products a year ahead of the kickoff.

Particularly, soccer balls are having a moment in America, and the numbers don't lie.

U.S. imports of soccer balls hit nearly $40 million in the first four months of 2026, the highest four-month haul since 2002, the earliest year with available monthly data, according to a USA TODAY analysis of Census trade data.

"The import surge testifies to the power of the World Cup to popularize soccer in America," said Gary Hufbauer, economist with the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a think tank based in Washington D.C. "This phenomenon is part of a larger trend in which soccer is joining football and basketball as a major sport."

Import data also indicates that businesses began preparing as early as 2025. Based on the USA TODAY analysis, U.S. soccer ball imports from August 2025 through April 2026 also reached their highest level compared with the same period in prior years.

The all-time high surge in imports came as global preparations accelerated for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which runs from June 11 to July 19 and features 48 national teams competing across the three North American host countries.

The expanded tournament, the largest in World Cup history, is bringing matches to 11 U.S. host cities, including New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, Atlanta, Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Philadelphia, Houston and Kansas City.

The buzz is on. The U.S. Men's National Soccer Team has advanced to the knockout stage. Pulisic and Balogun have started to become household names. Immigrant communities from soccer-playing nations are gathering for watch parties to support their teams. Fans from Scotland drank Boston dry of beer, and Norwegian fans have made their "Viking row" celebration an internet sensation. The joy and celebration, alongside heartbreak for fans of losing countries, is getting people to follow along, in stadiums and at home.

Besides soccer balls, U.S. businesses stocked up on soccer-related products, including jerseys and shoes, months and in some cases more than a year ahead of the tournament.

Nicholas Duenas, owner of Boston Soccer Shop in Cambridge, said he prepared his merchandise six to eight months in advance.

Duenas has been seeing a record-high number of customers in his shop, which he has run for 15 years. "Soccer is just getting so, so crazy," said Duenas. "We've been very busy."

Duenas expected sales to climb sharply in the weeks leading up to the tournament and said his customers are coming from all walks of life, including fans from foreign countries.

A couple of hundred miles away, Gus Avalos, manager of Soccer and Rugby Imports, said he began preparing for the World Cup sales almost a year ago and placed bulk orders from Adidas, Nike, and Puma early enough that some merchandise arrived before Christmas last year.

Still, customer demand is "more than expected," Avalos said.

Avalos said the chain, which his father founded in the 90s and now operates six retail stores in Connecticut and New York, saw nearly doubled sales in June compared to June of last year.

"It's a nice boost for business every four years," said Avalos. "[World Cup] being in the United States for the first time since 1994, there's definitely more excitement because people can drive to the games."

Avalos and Duenas' boosted sales offer a glimpse into how major sporting events can fuel customers' spending, as fan enthusiasm quickly turns into merchandise purchases.

"From a planning perspective, major sporting events create short, concentrated demand windows," said Rohit Tripathi, vice president of industry strategy and manufacturing at RELEX, a technology company for retail and supply chain planning.

Tripathi said it's important for business owners to place products in the right place, at the right price point, and available at the right time to match those brief spikes in demand.

That surge in imports was led largely by a handful of major manufacturing hubs.

Pakistan was the dominant supplier of soccer balls this year, followed by China and Indonesia.

Soccer ball production has deep roots in Sialkot, a manufacturing center in Pakistan known worldwide for hand-stitched soccer balls, including the official World Cup balls.

When Hufbauer worked as an adviser in Pakistan decades ago, he said he observed that making soccer balls and other sporting goods is a family tradition for Pakistanis and that craftsmanship was often passed down through families, with young workers learning skills across generations.

While China remained the second-largest supplier of soccer balls to the U.S. this year, U.S. imports from China during the January to April period this year fell to their lowest level in two decades.

"The drop in imports from China is entirely explained by economic sanctions," Hufbauer said, pointing to steep U.S. tariffs and trade restrictions on Chinese goods.

"China's loss is Pakistan's gain."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Soccer ball imports hit record high ahead of 2026 World Cup

Reporting by Dian Zhang, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect

This story was originally published July 2, 2026 at 2:03 AM.