SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - Team U.S.A. fell to Belgium Monday night four-to-one in Seattle, but the popularity of soccer in the country could bounce back.

Associated Press statistics show that soccer has always been overshadowed by football and baseball.

Kids at Western New England Soccer Academy took notes from the U.S.A.’s World Cup run and hope that the excitement for the sport won’t dwindle after the loss to Belgium.

“I think having the tournament here and having the U.S. go so far will grow the MLS, like, by drawing more attention to the league,” one student said.

However, despite their ages, these campers still see a systemic gap between American soccer and the rest of the world.

“Especially in Europe, everyone in Europe plays soccer and I don’t know if in the U.S. maybe it’s because there are other sports that kids get to play,” said Luca Penna of East Longmeadow. “Maybe it’s not meant to be as popular because there’s more opportunities for other sports.”

The number of options is one factor, but Jamey Mercer, the co-director of the academy says that the price to play is an issue as well.

“There’s a lot of places that it is really expensive and a lot of parents don’t feel like they get their bang for their buck,” said Mercer.

Still, soccer followers or not, Americans have shown extreme support for their country since the start of the tournament.

“I think we see it boom every four years, no matter if it’s here or anywhere else,” he said. “You see people get excited.”

Mercer says it’s never quite enough to make soccer the number one sport in the U.S.

On the professional level is Joe Ferrara, general manager of the New England Mutiny. He agrees with Mercer and claims that the current system is setting U.S. players and fans up for failure.

“A sport that really doesn’t cost very much money to play is probably one of the most expensive sports here in the U.S. compared globally,” he said. “There are all kinds of leagues out there that don’t communicate with each other, both on the youth and adult side.”

Ferrara says that this hinders the development of the sport.

According to the Associated Press, soccer’s popularity has been on the rise since the U.S. last hosted the World Cup in 1994. Two years after that tournament, major league soccer was launched.

Money then crept in as a factor for fans, you now have to pay and subscribe to Apple T.V. to catch any of those games while European leagues can mostly be found on cable or on ESPN.

The good news is that the U.S. was ahead of the game in terms of women’s soccer, a program that already has four World Cup wins, and the women’s World Cup is right around the corner in Brazil. Mercer says that can positively impact the sport as well.

“How good our women’s national team has been, you just see it explode every year. And there’s more and more kids playing, you know, not only soccer, but high-level soccer and club soccer,” he said. “There’s more opportunities. There’s more leagues. There’s more everything.”

A quarterfinal is set to be held at Boston Stadium.

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