With the 2026 World Cup bringing the world's biggest tournament back to the United States, YSC Academy teacher Mark C Franek has published American Soccer Nation.
The book has forewords by Philadelphia Union homegrown Cavan Sullivan and USMNT Goalkeeper Legent Tim Howard.
The piece features a comprehensive recounting of the beautiful game on American soil and a look at soccer’s boundless potential in the USA. While soccer is the most popular game in the world there has been questions about whether it belongs in the American sports culture which Franek resoundingly writes that it does with a 150-year journey of elite men’s soccer in the US is filled with drama, surprises, reversals, and triumphs that rival any world-class match.
With meticulous research and lifelong passion, Mark C Franek delivers a fast-paced, foundational soccer book that also serves as a celebration of American soccer. This book is a must-have for all fans, players, parents, coaches, and professionals across the sport.
In brisk, punchy prose that moves in a confident tiki-taka style, Franek explores:
- The soccer-like games played by Native Americans long before the arrival of Europeans
- How organized soccer predates gridiron football, started in American colleges, and was carried forward by immigrant communities
- Why soccer has always been more inclusive and immigrant-friendly than other professional sports
- The rise and fall of the original ASL and the Golden Age of American soccer
- America’s Olympic and World Cup highs and lows dating back to the early 20th century
- Soccer’s growing popularity today, from MLS and USL to elite youth academies
- The accordion-like journey of the USMNT over the past 40 years, leading to the USA’s co-hosting of the 2026 World Cup
- A roadmap for how the US can go from good to great on the international stage—based on firsthand accounts from professional athletes and experts in the sport
The book can be purchased online by clicking here. Fans wanting to know more about the book can check out the interview that Franek gave during an addition of Union Insider below.
