Social scientist Rich Luker attributes the popularity of soccer to many things, including the quantity of world-class soccer available to Americans on cable television, the Internet, and via teams from England and Spain traveling across the continent to brand-build during preseason.

Of all his findings, one caught Luker by surprise: the role soccer video games have played in stimulating a passion for the real thing. “For the longest time, I believed video games and fandom of sport were not connected,” he said. “But games like FIFA have done more to advance the popularity of soccer than I have seen with any other sport.”

Check out the full story for more on FIFA 13 and its impact on the beautiful game.