Tag Archives: statista

USA: The Emerging Soccer Power in the World?

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Source: Statista

President of the global soccer organization FIFA, Gianni Infantino, told U.S. President Donald Trump that the “U.S. is on the verge of becoming the soccer power in the world,” according to Forbes.

The comment was made at the World Economic Forum in Davos during the Global Chief Executive Officers dinner.

The U.S. has historically failed to progress in the World Cup in any meaningful way since the tournament’s founding in 1930. As one of the most populous countries possessing some of the best athletes in the world, many have pointed to the U.S.’s lack of interest in the sport compared to powerhouse soccer countries like Germany and Brazil as the reason why the country notoriously trots out an unremarkable international team.

Still, the world rankings conducted by FIFA and Coca-Cola have the U.S. in the top 25 internationally as of December 2019. Could 2022 be the year the U.S. makes a deep run in the World Cup?

FIFA Ranking Infographic

Olympics Put Japan on Fast Track to Tourism Targets

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Source: Statista

Japan’s government has announced the ambitious goal to welcome 40 million visitors to the country in 2020. A growth of this size would be a jump up from the projected 33.5 million who came to the country in 2019, but observers think the country does have a shot at making the number.

On Friday, the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games will be exactly six months away and interest in the games is credited with bringing crowds of visitors to the capital and beyond. Even before, tourism numbers have been increasing fast in Japan (after hitting a low due to the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami of 2011). More visitors are also injecting more cash into the economy. The Olympic Games are expected to bring a boost of $300 billion due to the increase in international and domestic tourists.

Olympics Infographic