[Polybius]

Soccer is pushed in elementary school because it's cheap, all you need is the ball and some room to play and something to mark where the goals are.......

Which is exactly why soccer enjoys such a worldwide popularity. Even the poorest neighborhood in the poorest country can afford it. (All you need is the head of the captain of the last losing team.)

[discostu]

Certainly plays into it's global popularity, but there's nothing wrong with a sport being cheap to play, we still get impressed by 4 minute miles and look how little equipment that takes.