Tom Brady: U.S. Soccer needs its own young Lionel Messi

Tom Brady is attempting to expand his influence into another type of football.

The NFL on Fox analyst bought a minority stake in Birmingham City Football Club in 2023, and between taking shots at Wayne Rooney, the now-former manager who was sacked after just 83 days, and calling his own players “lazy and entitled,” Brady has been playing the part of a tough-love football reformer. He’s trying to shape the culture of a sport that doesn’t naturally revolve around him.

Brady also offered some reasonably thoughtful insights about the sport’s future in the U.S., though he conveniently overlooked the fact that youth soccer here has evolved into a pay-to-play system. That’s the real reason we end up having the same conversation every World Cup cycle: why, in a country of 330 million people, our best athletes still aren’t playing for the national team.

Appearing on Men in Blazers, Brady shared his thoughts on soccer’s place in American culture and what he thinks needs to change. He also floated the idea that what the U.S. really needs is its own version of a younger Lionel Messi, as if that’s something you can will into existence.

“I think the reality for most athletes in America is these other sports just become very dominant because of culturally what’s on television all the time,” Brady said. “And what’s being talked about in the schoolyard ends up often being talked about American football, basketball, baseball, hockey. And it’s an amazing sport. It’s a global sport. It’s the biggest sport in the world. We all love it. And the reality is, you think about boxing, when there’s an American heavyweight, everyone in America is all in on it.

“And we need the youth in America in soccer. We need a young phenom like a Lamine Yamal, a young Lionel Messi, to take over. And I believe that there will be the most amazing kind of cultural revolution for soccer here in America. We love rooting for winners. We love rooting for the best of the best. The World Cup is coming to America in 2026. You can’t imagine the fanfare when that happens. Every stadium will be sold out. The American audience loves it.”

TOM BRADY: AMERICA NEEDS THIS PLAYER 👀 pic.twitter.com/y9xt0Q0SOG

— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) August 3, 2025

That’s like saying the New York Jets need a young phenom like a Jayden Daniels or a young Tom Brady.

It’s not exactly a revolutionary thought to say the U.S. could use a world-class soccer star. Every national team in the world wants a young Messi or Lamine Yamal, for that matter. But players like that don’t come from marketing departments. And they definitely don’t come from gated youth academies charging $4,000 a season.

So sure, Tom Brady’s not wrong to want a Messi. But, until American soccer overhauls its current model, the pipeline won’t produce players more talented than Christian Pulisic.