Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. Really. An estimated one billion people tuned in to the 2014 FIFA World Cup final between Argentina and Germany. In powerhouse countries such as Britain, Italy, Brazil, and the Netherlands, soccer is practically a national religion. But for them, it's called football, or fútbol in Spanish. Makes sense, right? You kick the ball with your fút.

In the good ol' U.S. of A, we call it soccer and it's only been over the last couple of decades that the sport started to gain a national following at the professional level. That, and we already had a "football." Yeah, we're stubborn. Know how the rest of the world uses the metric system? Stubborn like that.

Even though we were a little late to the game, soccer still is played by more than thirteen million people throughout the country (source). It's particularly popular with the little ones (there's a reason for the term "soccer mom"), and kiddos join youth soccer leagues when they're as young as four years old. If you picked up this sport as a youngin', chances are your parents were on the sidelines shouting and embarrassing you while secretly trying to sabotage the other team by greasing the kids' cleats. No? They didn't do that? Well, as far as you know, at least…

That's right, Billy. The other kids are just a lot clumsier than you…now eat your Snack Pack.

As you grow older and your interest in soccer grows with you, your opportunities (unfortunately) become more limited. You'll actually have to be good at playing rather than just being able to sign up at the YMCA. Tryouts for positions can be challenging, and coaches are less inclined to give out consolation trophies for having the most "whimsy" on the field.

If you're serious about pursuing the sport in college, you'll also need to participate in club soccer. This means playing for a team that isn't affiliated with school. Expect to travel to at least a couple tournaments per year and make sure you have access to a trusty soccermom-mobile.

Starting in high school, scouts will begin the recruiting process for the nearly 1,400 men's and 1,600 women's programs at the collegiate level (source). Recruiters can watch you play as early as freshman year and they look for skills like stamina, shot accuracy, agility, numbers of assists and goals, and the ability to take a dramatic dive while pretending another player maliciously kicked your shins.

Sadly, theatrics won't cut it if you want to make it as a college player. There are nearly 800,000 men's and women's high school soccer players in the U.S. Only about 76,000 of them will play in college, and of those, only 15,000 will compete at the Division-I level. That's less than a 2% shot at the NCAA big time (source). You have a better chance of having a long lost twin sibling. Hey, maybe they'll play soccer with you?

And if they don't, collegiate soccer is all you'll have left in the world. Clearly.

So what do you need in order to compete at the highest collegiate level? If you're playing a forward position, you'll want a high number of goals for the season. The top-scoring individuals in NCAA D-I men's soccer scored fifteen goals in seventeen to twenty-two games of play (source). That's a goal in nearly every game. If you're a goalie, look to make at least four saves per game. As a soccer player, you'll also need great time management skills in order to balance your studies with practices, workouts, games, and traveling.

As for scholarships, there's actually more moolah (and more programs) available if you're a lady footballer. At the D-I level, there are 14 scholarships available per team for women. For the dudes, there are 9.9 awards per team. (Who's that lucky ninth of a person?) The reason for these numbers is that scholarship money is often divided among the entire team. With roster sizes of around 27 players, that means the average scholarship only covers about 35% of annual college costs (source). Yikes.

But good news, sports fans: There are plenty of opportunities for the best, most kickin' players to go pro. There are 20 professional men's teams in Major League Soccer (MLS) and 9 teams in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). We also have men's and women's national teams, which compete for a chance to play in the World Cup every four years. While the U.S. men's team hasn't yet reached the World Cup finals, the women's team is killer and ranks number two in the entire world—they've won two World Cup titles and multiple Olympic gold medals.

As for league play, if you want to have a more famed career, you'll likely be looking overseas to the English Premier League (UK), La Liga (Spain), or down south at Liga MX (Mexico), or Brasileirao (Brazil). In addition to honing your soccer skills, you might want to brush up on a foreign language or two.

Bottom line: there are millions of opportunities to play soccer in this country (and in the world), but in order to rise to the level of a star college player, you've got to have discipline, exposure, talent, drive, and above all, passion.