As football fans around the globe get ready for the FIFA World Cup semi-final matches, Social Explorer put on its cleats and dug into data related to the four remaining teams. We looked at residents with the same ancestries as the teams to locate top fans who might be cheering the most. Find out more about US residents with ancestry ties to the different teams using American Community Survey Data (2012-16). (We used the modified cutpoints to help make each ancestry category, especially smaller ones, appear more visible on the map.)

In the U.S., an estimated 8,151,499 people are of French ancestry. The following map shows that they live in higher concentrations in New England, as well as Louisiana. Click and zoom more to see more detail on the map.

Today, the French team competes with Belgium. In the U.S., an estimated 359,121 people are of Belgian ancestry. The following maps shows that they live in higher concentrations in the upper Midwest.  

The other matchup consists of Croatia and England. In the U.S., an estimated 410,003 people are of Croatian ancestry. The following map shows that they live in higher concentrations in Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

In the U.S., an estimated 24,426,623 people are of English ancestry–one of the most common ancestry categories in the country. The following map shows that they live in higher concentrations in Utah and Maine, with a notable presence in many other states as well.

Good luck to all the teams and football/data fans out there!