Why does the world love it?
I don't think Americans hate soccer generally speaking. I bought the very first FIFA back in '94. I continued to buy soccer video games up until about '99. I've watched every World Cup to some degree since '94 (wont' be watching this year).
I simply don't think the sport is worth investing time in over US sports (which I find better designed, and which is an opinion I can write a in' dissertation on vs. soccer, so me turning my nose up at soccer isn't out of Murrican pride). If I'm going to invest time into a soccer-like sport, it would be something like Gaelic or Aussie Rules (more of a Rugby-like sport), which I find better designed. My opinion is that soccer is one sport of many and unlike soccer nuts, I don't think the sport is some proverbial gift from God that is intrinsically superior to other sports.
And no, appeal to popularity is a fallacy. It grew through British imperialism, not because the peoples of the world "saw the light." And if you don't think that was a factor, the Brits managed to make a sport you would find more boring than baseball the 2nd most popular in the world.
rest of the world embracing the NFL? On what planet? They hate it. I get it's popular in Mexico and Canada, but most other countries find it slow, plodding, unskillful, and absolutely despise the fact we call it "football," (even though American football has more of a right to be called football than soccer does).