I didn't imply that they would play in the league. My point was that having those players play in the World Cup in the U.S. in 1986 rather than in Mexico would have created such a buzz (especially the drama around the 'Hand of God' moment and 'That Goal') that it would have breathed new life into the league and it would have been a much more powerful league than and now. With the funds some of those owners were willing to spend, who knows who they would have convinced to stay but nowhere in my post did I say all those players would stay let alone one.djones, my point is that I am quite sure that Maradona, Platini, Hugo Sanchez and other great players at that time would not come to play in USA during eighties no matter what! Barcelona, Juventus, Real Madrid, etc. were preferred destinations and having WC 1986 in USA would not change that - in my opinion.
Early eighties were already showing signs of economic problems in USA so it is simply hard to believe that WC 1986 would change (for better) the soccer map in North America and attract some of those great players (mentioned in that article) to play in NASL instead of Spain and Italy (two strongest leagues at that time in Europe).
The disappearance of NASL certainly impacted Canadian soccer and you are right about that (as would the disappearance of any other organized league). By the way, does anybody know how many Canadian players played in NASL during seventies, eighties compared to today's MSL numbers?
In my opinion, I feel it certainly would be a different soccer community now than what it is presently in both the U.S. and Canada if the league would have continued.