Obsessed with the World Cup’s biggest stars? Here’s how you can keep watching them after the tournament ends.

The World Cup isn’t done yet, but one day — July 19, to be exact — it will be. What then? For many Americans, the 2026 edition of Earth’s biggest sporting event has been a revelation. That Cape Verde equalizer against Argentina. That Argentina comeback against Egypt. England’s 10-man triumph at the Azteca. The Viking Rowers. The Tartan Army. “Country Roads, Take Me Home.” The list goes on.

Maybe you were soccer-curious before the World Cup began. Maybe you weren’t. Either way, if you’re anything like this guy…

… or this guy

… or this guy

… then you have been converted — and you probably have questions (like this guy): 

The good news is we have answers. Hi, my name is Andrew, and I am a soccer addict. I grew up playing the sport in New Jersey. I still play today. As a child of the 1990s, I remember watching the occasional World Cup match on TV. But it was hard to catch much more than that.

Not anymore. When my son started to play soccer a few years back, and I started to coach him, I decided it was (finally) time to start following my favorite sport as a fan. 

Once the World Cup ends, you can do the same. Here’s how. 

‘How do you watch these guys on their club teams when you live in the U.S.?’

By “these guys,” you probably mean the big-name global superstars who are all still competing to score the most goals and win this year’s Golden Boot: Lionel Messi of Argentina, Kylian Mbappé of France, Erling Haaland of Norway and Harry Kane of England. (Ousmane Dembélé of France, Mikel Oyarzabal of Spain and Jude Bellingham of England are next on the list.) 

All of these talismanic attackers feature prominently on their national teams in international competitions like the World Cup (as well as Europe’s UEFA European Championship and South America’s Copa América). But they spend most of their time — about 10 months each year — playing for a “club” team in one of the 191 officially recognized, top-flight domestic soccer leagues worldwide.

Technically, you can follow soccer by following specific stars during the club season… 

• Messi plays for Inter Miami in Major League Soccer (U.S.).

• Mbappé plays for Real Madrid in La Liga (Spain).

• Haaland plays for Manchester City in the Premier League (England).

• Kane plays for Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga (Germany).

• Dembélé plays for Paris-Saint Germain in Ligue 1 (France).

• USA’s Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie play, respectively, for AC Milan and Juventus in Serie A (Italy).

… but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it, for reasons we’ll get into shortly.

‘Are all these great players in the same league? When is their season?’

As you can see, not so much. This year’s Golden Boot leaders and American stars are evenly distributed among the biggest, toughest leagues in the world.

The European leagues compete from August to May. Mexico’s LigaMX and Argentina’s Liga Profesional follow a similar schedule. To minimize competition with NFL, NBA and NHL, Major League Soccer (MLS) currently begins in March and ends in October. But next year it will also shift to a European-style, summer-to-spring calendar.

The point is: If you plan to follow soccer by following individual players, you’re going to have to watch several different leagues on several different continents — all at the same time. 

And there’s one other hitch. 

‘How do you buy a package to keep watching these ballers?’ 

Sadly, there’s no global soccer “package” (like MLB.tv or NFL+) that lets you stream every club match featuring Messi, Mbappé, Haaland, Kane, Dembélé, Pulisic and so on.

Instead, all of the top club leagues are on different U.S. streaming services. The current lineup looks like this: 

• England’s Premier League → Peacock (with select matches on NBC, NBC Sports or USA)

• Spain’s La Liga → ESPN+

• Germany’s Bundesliga → ESPN+

• Italy’s Serie A → Paramount+

• France’s Ligue 1 → beIN Sports/FUBO

• America’s Major League Soccer → Apple TV

• Mexico’s Liga MX → ViX/TUDN (rights vary by club)

There are also some big annual club tournaments — like the World Cup, but with clubs from different countries competing for continental supremacy — and each of them is on a different streaming service:

• Europe’s UEFA Champions League → Paramount+ (which also streams Europe’s lower-tier Europa and Conference League competitions)

• North, South and Central America’s CONCACAF Champions Cup → Fox Sports

• South America’s Copa Libertadores → beIN Sports/FUBO

• Africa’s CAF Champions League → beIN Sports/FUBO

Confused yet? If you still want to stick with a broad, player-centric approach to your soccer fandom, I would recommend subscribing to Peacock, ESPN+ and Paramount+. That way you can watch …

• On ESPN+: Spain’s La Liga (home to Mbappé’s Real Madrid and Lamine Yamal’s Barcelona) and Germany’s Bundesliga (home to Kane’s Bayern Munich).

• On Paramount+: The UEFA Champions League, which pits the best teams in England, Spain, Germany, France, Italy and other top-flight European leagues against each other every year for the most prestigious trophy in club soccer.

There is, however, a simpler solution.

‘How do I find a team to follow?’ 

This is the way. Or, at least, this has been my way. I fell for Arsenal after watching the first few weeks of the 2022-23 Premier League season. Four seasons and 227 matches later — I’ve seen all of them — it’s a bit jarring to step back and realize how meaningful this distant North London club has become to me.

But that’s the liberating thing about being an American soccer convert: You can choose your own adventure. You are not obligated by geography or history or heredity. You can pick a player you like, a city you like, a kit you like — whatever you like, really — and take it from there. 

You might consider supporting one of America’s 30 MLS teams; if none play near you, a United Soccer League (USL) team almost certainly does. In the MLS, the stadiums are manageable, the tickets are affordable, the atmosphere is fun and the level of competition is improving. Messi’s Inter Miami is stacked with (older) global stars such as Rodrigo De Paul, Casemiro and Luis Suarez; South Korean captain Son Heung-min plays for LAFC; German legend Thomas Muller plays for the Vancouver Whitecaps; France’s Antoine Griezmann just joined Orlando City. 

Worldwide, the MLS may only rank 19th for overall strength — it’s more minor league than major league, really — but there’s no substitute for seeing professional soccer IRL, connecting with your local fan community and helping to grow the game in your own backyard.

To watch soccer at the highest level — a higher level, many argue, than the World Cup itself — you might also find a foreign club that speaks to you. For me, that club was Arsenal: young players, young manager, deep history and a new spark after a long trophy drought. It didn’t hurt that a close friend had been supporting them for decades; now we text at all hours about the latest transfer rumors and watch together whenever we can. But you might adore American midfielder Tyler Adams and back Bournemouth as a result. Or Antonee Robinson (Fulham). Or Chris Richards (Crystal Palace). Or Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United).

There are no wrong answers.  

‘Are the crowds like this for club matches or just the World Cup?’

Yes and no. Fans have to wait four years between World Cups; national pride gives the contest a celebratory, Epcot-like flair. Everyone is buzzing over the same thing at the same time, which basically never happens anymore. It’s hard not to get swept up.

Clubs are different. The MLS resembles other American sports leagues, with playoffs and a final championship game. But the Premier League and its counterparts are more mathematical — and arguably more meritocratic. You get three points for a win, one point for a draw and zero points for a loss. Whoever has the most points after 30-odd games lifts the trophy; whoever has the least gets relegated to a lower league. Every match — every point — counts. Fall too far behind and you can’t catch up. There are no second chances.

That harsh reality — along with loyalties and rivalries that span generations — can make these club campaigns more intense, in their way, than any World Cup run. The crowds reflect and amplify this intensity. It might be harder to get swept up at first — to familiarize yourself with new characters, new narratives and new customs — but once you do, it’s almost impossible to resist.

The bottom line: Try the MLS in person; the current season resumes on July 13. Starting in August, follow a foreign club’s league campaign on one of the streaming services — and perhaps at your local supporters’ bar. (Most league games are on the weekend.) Watch your team midweek in whatever tournaments they qualify for. (Mbappe, Haaland, Kane and Dembélé will all be playing in the 2026-27 UEFA Champions League on Paramount+.) Before long, you’ll probably be waking up at 4:30 a.m. on a Saturday to fear-watch a do-or-die away game. Or maybe that’s just me. Vamos!