OP here: I promise this isn't a troll post. Sometimes the tone gets lost in the text, but I mean to offer these ideas earnestly and with all due humility and recognition of my own limitations. And I especially apologize for not checking that there is a Puerto Rican National Team. El Huracán Azul!

But the outrage is interesting. The semantics on whether England is a "country" or a "state" or a "nation" are much more complex than any of the insults recognize. For example, international organizations like the United Nations and the International Olympic Committee do not recognize England independently. The overlap between the EU and the the Euro is not perfect, but most of the countries composing the EU share the same currency. And while England uses the GBP, it is a currency that is shared between the United Kingdom, Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, the British Antarctic Territory, and Tristan da Cunha (thanks Wikipedia). In other words, it is not exclusive to England. Anyway, it is a more complex issue than I can handle in this silly post. It is an interesting issue though, as you might see more and more strain in the United States for states with large populations to get more authorities in line with "countries", particularly California, paricularly with the loathsome rise of Trumpism.

For what it is worth, I think making the sport more regional within the United States would help its popularity. MLS is trying, but stoking border insults is part of charm of sports like (American) College Football. The World Cup would be worse off if there was only one European Union team. I think it could be better if there were more United States teams. I'm probably wrong though.... I'm enjoying reading the replies.

I'd be curious to hear more response to the substantive issues I tried to talk about in my post. For example, does the balance between skill and random occurrence in a soccer match bother anyone else?