History of the United States men's national soccer team

The history of the United States men's national soccer team began with that team's first international match in 1916. Highlights from the team's early history include reaching the semi-finals of the 1930 World Cup then FIFA recognized third place for the United States of America in 1986, and defeating England in a remarkable upset in the 1950 World Cup.

The United States men's national soccer team improved during the 1980s, and played in every World Cup from 1990 to 2014. The team's best performances in modern history include reaching the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup, and defeating #1 ranked Spain to reach the final of the 2009 Confederations Cup.

Early history: 1885–1904

In 1885, the United States and Canada played at Newark, New Jersey, making it the first international match held outside of the United Kingdom; the Canadians won the match 1–0. The following year, a fixture at the same venue resulted in the U.S. winning after scoring the only goal of the game. Neither match was officially recognized.

Thirty years later, on August 20, 1916, the United States played its first official international match under the auspices of U.S. Soccer against Sweden in Stockholm, which the U.S. won 3–2, with goals from Dick Spalding, Charles Ellis and Harry Cooper.

The U.S. won both the silver and bronze medals in men's soccer at the 1904 Summer Olympics held in St. Louis, Missouri. The tournament featured three teams: Galt F.C. from Canada and Christian Brothers College and St. Rose Parish from the United States (early Olympic soccer tournaments featured club teams instead of national teams). Galt defeated both American teams to win the gold. Christian Brothers defeated St. Rose in a third match after two scoreless draws.

1930s: Third place at the first World Cup

In the 1930 World Cup, the U.S. won their first match in World Cup history, beating Belgium 3–0 at the Estadio Gran Parque Central in Montevideo, Uruguay. The match occurred simultaneously with another across town at the Estadio Pocitos where France defeated Mexico.

In the next match, the United States again won 3–0, this time against Paraguay. For many years, FIFA credited Bert Patenaude with the first and third goals and his teammate Tom Florie with the second. Other sources described the second goal as having been scored by Patenaude or by Paraguayan Aurelio González. In November 2006, FIFA announced that it had accepted evidence from "various historians and football fans" that Patenaude scored all three goals, and was thus the first person to score a hat trick in a World Cup finals tournament.

Having reached the semifinals with two wins, the American side lost 6–1 to Argentina. Using the overall tournament records, FIFA lists the U.S. as finishing in third place, above fellow semifinalist Yugoslavia. This is still the team's highest World Cup finish, and the highest finish of any CONCACAF nation. Furthermore, it is the only time a national team from outside the traditional powerhouse regions of CONMEBOL (South America) and UEFA (Europe) have finished on the podium.

1950 World Cup: upset of England

In the 1950 World Cup, the United States lost their first match 3–1 against Spain, but then won 1–0 against England in what is widely considered one of the greatest upsets in football history, England having recently beaten the rest of Europe 6–1 in an exhibition match. Sports Illustrated and Soccer Digest have called the game the "Miracle on Grass." A 5–2 defeat by Chile in the third group match saw the U.S. eliminated from the tournament. It would be four decades before the United States would make another appearance at the World Cup.

1950s–1970s

Despite the United States' relative success in early international tournaments, soccer remained a niche sport in the U.S. for many years. In the three decades after the 1950 World Cup, the only victories for the United States came against Haiti, Bermuda, Honduras, Canada, Poland, and China.

1980s

After the enthusiasm caused by the creation and rise of the North American Soccer League in the 1960s and 1970s, it seemed as though the U.S. men's national team would soon become a powerful force in world soccer. These hopes were not realized, however. The United States played only two international matches from 1981 to 1983.

To provide a more stable national team program and renew interest in the NASL, U.S. Soccer entered the national team into the league for the 1983 season as Team America. This team lacked the continuity and regularity of training that conventional clubs enjoy, and many players were unwilling to play for the team instead of their own clubs. Embarrassingly, Team America finished the season at the bottom of the league. U.S. Soccer cancelled this experiment, and the national team was withdrawn from the NASL.

U.S. Soccer targeted the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California and the 1986 World Cup as means of rebuilding the national team and their fan base. The International Olympic Committee declared that teams from outside Europe and South America could field full senior teams, including professionals (until then, the amateur-only rule had heavily favored socialist countries from Eastern Europe whose players were professionals in all but name). The U.S. had a very strong showing at the tournament, beating Costa Rica, tying Egypt, losing only to favorite Italy and finishing 1–1–1 but didn't make the second round, losing to Egypt on a tiebreaker (both had three points, but Egypt had scored one more goal than the United States).

The United States bid to host the 1986 World Cup, after Colombia withdrew from hosting due to economic concerns. However, Mexico beat the U.S. and Canada to host the tournament, despite concerns that the tournament would have to be moved again because of a major earthquake that hit Mexico shortly before the tournament.

By the end of 1984, the NASL had folded and there was no senior outdoor soccer league operating in the United States. As a result, many top American players, such as John Kerr, Paul Caligiuri, Eric Eichmann, and Bruce Murray, moved overseas, primarily to Europe.

In the last game of the qualifying tournament for the 1986 World Cup, the U.S. needed only a draw against Costa Rica, whom the U.S. had beaten 3–0 in the Olympics the year before, to reach the final qualification group against Honduras and Canada. U.S. Soccer scheduled the game to be played at El Camino College

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