List of 20 best cities for soccer fans: Chicago ranks No. 10

Chicago ranks No. 10 on list of best cities for soccer fans: study

By Madeline Kenney

Chicago was ranked the 10th best city in the U.S. for soccer fans. | Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

In honor of the World Cup beginning on Thursday, WalletHub released its ranking of the best and worst U.S. cities for soccer fans.

Chicago checked in at No. 10 on the list.

WalletHub, a personal finance website that has made its name by ranking the best and worst cities for a variety of reasons, released its soccer fans study on Wednesday — the same day FIFA, international soccer’s governing body, voted to let the U.S., Canada and Mexico jointly host the 2026 World Cup.

WalletHub compared nearly 300 cities that had at least one college or professional soccer team. Chicago has six college soccer teams (between DePaul, Loyola and University of Illinois – Chicago), the Chicago Fire and the Chicago Red Stars.

Los Angeles and Orlando took the two top spots on the list with Seattle, Portland, Oregon, and New York ranking inside the top five.

Salt Lake City, Washington, Kansas City, Missouri, Atlanta and Chicago rounded out the top 10, respectively.

As for the worst cities, soccer fans should avoid Dover, Delaware, Grand Forks, North Dakota, and Youngstown, Ohio.

It’s pretty remarkable that Chicago ranked in the top 10 given the fact they were ranked the city with the league engaging MLS and National Women’s Soccer League fans. The Windy City also has the second lowest stadium capacity in the two professional leagues.