Welcome back to MoneyCall, The Athletic’s weekly sports business cheat sheet. (Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe here.)Name-dropped today: David Beckham, Erling Haaland, Craig Kessler, Carli Lloyd, Rich Paul, Dean Blandino, Gianni Infantino, Bill Simmons, Abby Wambach, Monkey D. Luffy and more. Let’s go:Driving the ConversationThe USMNT’s many realitiesAs we reflect on the American squad’s impact on fan attention and spending surrounding this World Cup, it’s time to return to a favorite MoneyCall construct: “Two things can be true at once.”The USMNT’s loss to Belgium was disappointing on many levels. Also true: The team’s weeks of success were a thrill ride that genuinely captivated a huge swath of the country.The red card on Folarin Balogun was absurd. Also true: The subsequent political contretemps devolved the larger dynamic into something no one really enjoyed.Upcoming games in this tournament are unlikely to top Monday’s 30 million U.S. TV viewers. Also true: The presence of France (Kylian Mbappe!), Argentina (Lionel Messi!) and Norway’s booming star (more on him below) will keep Americans watching.This month’s level of widespread excitement around soccer in the U.S. is not sustainable. Also true: MLS must do everything possible to uptick fan conversion.(Related: MLS suffers from being a second-tier league globally. Also true: NWSL is the best women’s soccer league in the world, with a huge marketing opportunity of its own.)This month will boost the number of kids who want to sign up for youth soccer. Also true: The billion-dollar youth-soccer industry is fundamentally broken.All those cheery TV ads featuring Christian Pulisic now feel awkward. Also true: If marketers remove those, there will still be so many David Beckham ads. (More on that below!)