The World's Most Popular Sport Tries to Capture U.S. Sports Fans, Again

June 7, 2010 — -- Soccer usually takes a back seat to football for most U.S. sports fans, but for one month every four years, the international version of football endeavors to capture U.S. hearts, and feet.

The FIFA World Cup kicks off this week in Johannesburg, South Africa. Less than 20 years since the end of apartheid, the new South Africa takes center stage as the first African nation to host the world's premier team competition.

"What makes the World Cup so special is it's the largest sporting event in the world," said Mia Hamm, the most successful women's soccer player in U.S. history. "The energy, the passion, the enthusiasm, is like nothing you'll ever see."

Thirty-two teams will compete in 64 games -- starting with host nation South Africa against Mexico June 11 -- to crown a world champion.

Former South African President Nelson Mandela, 91, who rarely makes public appearances, is expected to attend the opening match, providing a spiritual lift for the underdog home side. The South Africa team, known as Bafana Bafana (the Boys), is ranked 83rd in the world and hopes to avoid being the first host nation to fail to advance to the second round.

The United States, competing its sixth consecutive World Cup, will take on England in Rustenburg June 12. The U.S. team will try to repeat its last World Cup performance against England in 1950 when it scored a stunning 1-0 upset.

"It's a special game," said John Harkes, former captain of the U.S. National Team and World Cup participant in 1990 and 1994. "The U.S., they love the underdog factor. And they can be very aggressive. I really believe that if they work hard together, as a team, they're capable of winning against England.

Team USA, ranked 14th in the world, will also play Slovenia, June 18, and Algeria, June 23, in the first round of group play.

Buoyed by a strong performance in last year's Confederations Cup, a warm-up tournament in South Africa for the World Cup, where they defeated top-ranked Spain and nearly upset five-time world champion Brazil, team USA is looking to repeat its 2002 run to the quarterfinals.