Well, you're wrong. If the best athletes play basketball, then how come the US has the best baseball teams? The best track and field program? The best swimmers? Consistently wins the most medals in the Olympics? The US doesn't win at soccer because black kids don't play soccer? That's a bit racist. Inner city kids don't play soccer because it's EXPENSIVE. There is no field space in the inner cities, but there are basketball courts. There is an absolutely huge amount of poor kids who love soccer and play it religiously who simply aren't given the opportunity to succeed at the highest levels. I'm not sitting here just making up reasons. I follow soccer, I played youth soccer at the highest levels when I was 10-14 (I'm almost 40 now), and it was a joke. The coaching wasn't there, there was a huge push to win rather than improve, to drill rather than be creative which resulted in a lack of growth and a lack of skill team-wide. This is still the case throughout the US. http://theconversation.com/until-youth-soccer-is-fixed-us-mens-national-team-is-destined-to-fail-85585 https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2016/jun/01/us-soccer-diversity-problem-world-football I could go on and on and on. It's not that kid's aren't playing, it's that the system is stacked against those who don't have money.