Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Zinedine Zidane (via IMAGO)

Over the years, a raging criticism of the American sporting leagues has been that the best teams cannot be dubbed as ‘World Champions’ because they feature teams and players who, for the most part, are Americans. Since there is no equal footing or opportunity for international teams to come in and compete in these leagues, the question that international fans have is, how can you really call the ultimate winner of the NBA, NFL, or NHL championship the world champion?

Recently, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce attended the Miami GP, and the reigning Super Bowl champions got a chance to meet the legendary soccer player Zinedine Zidane. The trio took pictures together and the NFL France account decided to post these pictures on Instagram with the caption, “Three World Champs in Miami.” Well, it is safe to say, that was enough for all hell to break loose.

Fans began to mock the caption and cited that Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes cannot be called ‘World Champions’ but are merely American Champions. The reason is that they won a Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL, a league that is restricted to American teams only.

Fans are not happy about Kelce and Mahomes being put on the same level as Zinedine Zidane

Soccer fans in particular are not the most fond of NFL fans. To them, the World Cup is the greatest accomplishment that a player can achieve and the victor of that one tournament gets to boast by attaching the title of World Champion to their name for the rest of their lives.
Travis Kelce,Patrick Mahomes, and Zinedine Zidane (via NFL France on Instagram)
Zinedine Zidane is a one-time FIFA World Cup champion having won it in 1998. Kelce and Mahomes on the other hand have won the Super Bowl thrice and will be hoping to win it yet again this season.

Here’s how fans reacted on Instagram to NFL France’s post:

Zinedine Zidane is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished soccer players. Having played for Juventus, and Real Madrid, and represented France in national tournaments, he is just one of nine players who has won the World Cup, the Champions League, and the Ballon d’Or.

In 2006, despite losing to Italy in the World Cup final, he won the Golden Ball as the best football player of the tournament. He truly is a World Champion in every sense.

But this does not take away from Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes, who have notably risen to the top of their league. The NFL might be an American league, but it features the best players from all over the world. By this logic, it is only fair that the winner of the Lombardi Trophy be dubbed the World Champion.