As the United States prepares to take center stage as one of the host nations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, anticipation is already building across the country. The world’s biggest sporting event is returning to U.S. soil for the first time in 32 years, and the buzz is impossible to ignore.
Soccer has never been more prominent in national conversation than it is right now, but which states are actually feeling the excitement most?
To find out, we analyzed search interest across all 50 U.S. states, tracking World Cup-related search themes including tickets and attendance-related queries, travel and planning, team and national interest, players, viewing and broadcast, merchandise, commercial activity, betting and predictions, as well as core World Cup and tournament-related searches.
The results reveal exactly where World Cup fever is running hottest in America heading into the summer.
Key Findings
Most Excited State for the World Cup
- New York is the most excited state for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with a score of 71.82.
Least Excited State for the World Cup
- North Dakota is the least excited state for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with a score of 2.59.
Top 5 Most Excited States for the World Cup
- The top 5 excited states include: New York, California, New Jersey, Kansas, and Wyoming.
Search Themes Analyzed
- Core Tournament Interest — e.g., World Cup, FIFA World Cup, World Cup 2026
- Tickets & Attendance Demand — e.g., World Cup tickets, how to buy World Cup tickets, ticket prices
- Travel & Accommodation Planning — e.g., flights to World Cup cities, World Cup accommodation, World Cup fan zones
- National Team & Fixtures — e.g., USA vs Paraguay, USMNT World Cup roster, USA World Cup schedule
- Players and Managers — e.g., Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Gio Reyna, Mauricio Pochettino
- Viewing and Broadcasting — e.g., How to watch the World Cup, World Cup kickoff times, World Cup TV schedule
- Merchandise and Commercial Intent — e.g., World Cup jersey, USA soccer jersey, World Cup merchandise
- Betting and Predictions — e.g., World Cup odds, who will win the World Cup, World Cup predictions
- Stadiums — e.g., Atlanta Stadium, Los Angeles Stadium, San Francisco Bay Area Stadium
Methodology
To determine which states are most excited for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, BetMGM Sports analyzed search interests across all U.S. states using Google Trends data. We tracked 100 World Cup-related keywords across nine categories, covering everything from ticket searches and travel planning to player lookups, betting markets, and broadcast queries.
The data was collected between Dec. 5, 2025 (the date of the World Cup group stage draw) and April 30, 2026, giving us a comprehensive picture of search behavior in the months leading up to the tournament.
To ensure a fair comparison between states, the results were normalized to account for differences in population size and overall search volume, then scaled by a factor of 1,000 to produce a standardized interest index for comparison.
Formula
For each state, the search scores for all 100 keywords were averaged to produce a single World Cup interest score. That average represents the breadth and intensity of World Cup-related search activity in each state. Based on search trends, the state with the highest average score was determined to be the most excited about the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
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