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“Only Americans Call It Soccer” – Fans Divided on David Beckham and NFL Legend Peyton Manning’s ‘Football vs Soccer’ Commercial for FIFA Qatar World Cup

Published 11/18/2022, 5:00 AM EST

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The 2022 FIFA World Cup is just around the corner, with the hosts Qatar and Ecuador playing the opening game. Soccer legend David Beckham has taken up the ambassadorial role for the World Cup. However, he has faced a lot of backlash due to the host nation’s controversies surrounding human rights violations. But the buildup to the World Cup has been incredible, leading to the excitement of the fans. In the buildup, Frito-Lay released an advert featuring David Beckham and NFL legend Peyton Manning.

The Frito-Lay commercial went viral on social media sparking a big debate that has been around for decades. The football vs soccer debate has been the most discussed one in sports history. In many parts of the world, the game is called football, while in other parts, primarily the North American continent, it is called soccer.

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The debate started once again with Beckham and Peyton Manning’s Frito-Lay advert for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The advertisement also featured soccer stars, such as Mia Hamm, Tim Howard, and Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez. Meanwhile, David Beckham and Manning butt heads over the differences in British and American English words. This divided the fans, who reacted to the post on social media.

Fans react to football vs soccer debate sparked by David Beckham and Peyton Manning’s advert

The World Cup is kicking off on 20 November. With so much hype around, Frito-Lay released a commercial featuring Beckham and Peyton Manning. However, the advert centers around the debate over soccer linguistics. This led to a big debate on social media, leading to several fan reactions.

 

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A post shared by David Beckham (@davidbeckham)

One fan mentioned soccer’s biggest association in the debate: “Well as it’s FIFA not FISA I think we can all agree.”

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Some fans called out the US for calling the game, soccer: “Only Americans call it soccer so they are the minority. It’s football and the other thing they call football is American football. The sport only they partake in as well.”

Meanwhile, some fans dragged the NFL into the conversation.

“Holding a watermelon under your arms and running around aimlessly is called Football?” a fan mentioned.

“You play with the foot. The ball needs to be spherical so its called a ball. So its football, American football however should be called Hand egg,” another fan commented.

USA Today via Reuters

However, a fan dragged the USMNT’s World Cup chances into the debate: “While the whole world is playing football, Americans are playing soccer. That’s the reason why they will never win the FIFA world cup trophy.”

The debate is a never-ending one. The US has a different game called football, which has its own league: the NFL. It is one of the most popular leagues in the world with globally popular athletes such as Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, and Patrick Mahomes, among others.

USMNT at the FIFA Qatar World Cup

The USMNT opens its campaign against Wales. Their group, Group B, also has England and Iran, making it one of the toughest groups in the tournament.

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After the game against Wales, they will face England, who are favorites to top the group given their star-studded roster. The USMNT will play Iran in their last group game of the competition.

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WATCH THIS STORY: Power Couple David Beckham vs Victoria Beckham Net Worth Comparison: Who’s Wealthier?

What do you think about the soccer vs football debate? Let us know in the comment section below.

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Written by:

Abhishek Singh

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Abhishek Singh is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports with over two years of journalistic experience with Chase Your Sport and Dribl. A Football Management graduate, he has previously interned in the Indian Super League, I-League and the AFC Champions League. In addition to being a Michael Jordan fan, Abhishek is an ardent Steph Curry and Warriors guy, and believes they have a few more championships in store before the former retires.
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Edited by:

Veer Badani