USA World Cup Information

The USA National Team has qualified for the last 5 World Cups

1990 World Cup Italy

In 1989, FIFA named the U.S. as host of the 1994 World Cup, but it was under significant international criticism for this decision because of the weakness of the national side and the lack of a top level professional league. This criticism was relieved somewhat when, by winning their first game on the road in nearly two years in a 1-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago through a 35th minute goal by Paul Caligiuri, U.S.A. reached the 1990 World Cup in Italy, its first World Cup finals berth in 40 years.

For the World Cup, coach Bob Gansler selected many inexperienced recent college graduates: two of the team's most seasoned professionals, Rick Davis and Hugo Perez, were recovering from serious injuries and unavailable. They were beaten 5-1 by Czechoslovakia in its opening game, Caligiuri scoring the consolation goal. The match against host team Italy resulted in a 1-0 defeat. In the U.S.’s last game, the team fell 2-1 to Austria. The U.S. were eliminated with a 0-3 record.

1994 World Cup Hosts

The controversy over the United States having been awarded the 1994 FIFA World Cup, despite soccer being relatively unpopular in the country had continued until the tournament started. Despite soccer's lowly position in the U.S. sports' hierarchy, the 1994 tournament still holds the World Cup record for attendance at nearly 70,000 per match. The U.S. opened its tournament schedule with a 1-1 tie against Switzerland in the Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit, Michigan, the first World Cup game played indoors. In its second game, the U.S. faced Colombia, ranked fourth in the world, at the Rose Bowl. Aided by an own goal from Andrés Escobar, who was later murdered in his home country for, it is believed, this mistake, the U.S. won 2-1. Despite a 1-0 loss to Romania in its final group game, the U.S. made it to the knockout round for the first time in modern history, avoiding becoming the first host nation not to advance from the group stage.

In the second round, the U.S. lost to eventual champion Brazil, 1-0. Brazil played much of the match with only 10 players after a red card was given to Leonardo for "shattering Tab Ramos's skull with a brutally-delivered elbow."

1998 World Cup in France

In the 1998 World Cup, the team lost all three group matches, including a loss to Iran, and finished in last place in its group. In fact, the team finished in last place overall-- placing 32nd in the field of 32. Head coach Steve Sampson received much of the blame for the performance as a result of abruptly cutting team captain John Harkes and several other players who were significant to the qualifying effort.

2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan

The team won the 2002 Gold Cup to set up the team's best performance since 1930 in the 2002 World Cup, when the US team reached the quarterfinals. The knockout stage was reached through a 3-2 win over Portugal and a 1-1 tie with co-host and eventual fourth place finisher, South Korea.

This set the stage for a Round 2 face-off with familiar continental rivals Mexico. The U.S. emerged victorious in the first World Cup showdown between the two old adversaries, 2-0. The team lost 1-0 to eventual runners-up Germany in the quarterfinals. Michael Ballack, who scored the winner in the match, said that the Germans were "lucky" to win the game, reflecting the view that the United States were the better team. Goalkeeper Oliver Kahn is often given credit for the victory. Former Germany captain and national icon Franz Beckenbauer said, "America were clearly the better team for 90 minutes." The match was controversial in that an American goal was averted late in the match by the ball striking Torsten Frings' arm on the goal line.

2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany

Although it finished at the top of its qualifying group, the United States was unseeded (only top 8 teams received seeds). After changes were made to the seeding process from past processes, more weight was given to a team's/nation's previous World Cup success. The United States was drawn in Group E for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, along with Czech Republic, Italy and Ghana. With three of the top 10 sides in the FIFA rankings in the group, it was considered a Group of Death.

The USA opened with a 3-0 loss to Czech Republic. The team then drew 1-1 against Italy, helped by an Italian own goal: red cards were shown to Pablo Mastroeni and Eddie Pope just before and immediately following the halftime break for reckless tackles, forcing the US team to play nearly all of the second half with nine players to Italy's ten. The USA was knocked out in its final group match against Ghana, who defeated the Americans 2-1.

After going winless in Italy 1934, Italy 1990, France 1998, and Germany 2006, the U.S. is left still searching for its first victory in a World Cup held on European soil. The tie against Italy was USA's first point earned in a World Cup on European soil; the Cristian Zaccardo own goal was also the only goal conceded by Italy until France scored in the final on a penalty kick by Zinedine Zidane.