Prince Harry Enters the 'Soccer vs. Football' Debate After His Own Recent Fumble
Prince Harry indulged in lighthearted banter recently after making a similar mistake not too long ago.
The UK and the US have several cultural differences. One country drives on the left, the other on the right; one has royalty, and the other doesn’t. Over the past few weeks, however, another major debate has taken center stage. Prince Harry recently brought it up with James Corden during an appearance on his sports program following the FIFA World Cup final on Sunday: Is it called soccer or football?
Harry appeared on After Hours, hosted by Corden and former English footballer Rio Ferdinand. The trio was discussing the highly anticipated final when the popular talk show host asked the Duke of Sussex, “So, are you a fan of soccer?” Taking a friendly dig at Harry’s royal background, Corden added, via The Mirror, “I always thought you were too posh to go to a school where they played soccer.”
The Duke, seemingly having had enough of Corden using the American term, quickly fired back, “Too posh to play football, you mean. Why do you keep calling it soccer?” Corden had a response ready: “Because we’re in the United States, baby.” Despite the lighthearted banter, the host took the hint and referred to the game as football for the remainder of the show. Watch the video here!
However, while Harry may have corrected Corden on the proper 'English' name of the game, he had suffered a major fumble of his own just a few weeks prior. During an interview for the 2027 Invictus Games, ITV's Alison Hammond invited the Duke to her home for ackee and saltfish. Excitedly, the prince asked, “And some soccer as well?” He quickly realized his slip-up and course-corrected: “Some football, sorry. Football, not soccer.”
Harry’s estranged older brother, Prince William, found himself in a similar debate when he appeared on Travis and Jason Kelce’s podcast, New Heights, earlier this month. Addressing the FA patron, Jason said, “You know your soccer, you've been around the game for a long time,” before asking what made William so confident in the current English team. Before answering, the Prince of Wales smirked and replied, “So first of all, Jason, I have to correct you. It's football.”
Although the brothers may not see eye-to-eye on much these days, one thing they instinctively agree on is correcting Americans whenever they say "soccer." Both are passionate fans of the sport and expressed their sadness when England crashed out of the tournament during the semi-finals. However, the British team went on to secure third place after defeating France on Saturday.
The FIFA final, on the other hand, was played between Spain and Argentina, with the former taking home the trophy for the second time in history. They beat the defending champions, 1-0, on Sunday.
