United States National Football Team / World Championships

United States of America
United States of America

World Cup record goalscorer:	Landon Donovan (5)
World Cup record players:	Landon Donovan (12)
Rank :	26th
Organizer:	1994
Balance sheet
33 World Cup games 8 wins 6 draws 19 defeats 37:62 goals
statistics
First World Cup game USA 3-0 Belgium Montevideo ( URY ); July 13, 1930
Biggest World Cup victories USA 3-0 Belgium Montevideo ( URY ); July 13, 1930 USA 3-0 Paraguay Montevideo ( URY ); 17th July 1930
Biggest World Cup defeat USA 1: 7 Italy Rome ( ITA ); May 27, 1934
successes
World Championship
Participation in the finals	10 ( first : 1930 )
Best results	Third in 1930
Best placements in the countries that host the FIFA World Cup
(As of July 2018 )

The article provides an in-depth look at the United States' national soccer team at World Cups. The US national team has already participated in the first World Cup in Uruguay and a total of ten World Cup finals. They were the only CONCACAF team to want to take part in all World Cups - except in 1938 - even though football is not one of the top sports in the USA.

Overview

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponent	placement	Trainer	Comments and special features
1930	Uruguay	Semifinals	Argentina	3	Robert Millar	The game for third place against Yugoslavia , the loser of the other semi-final game, was not played. FIFA ranked the USA third and Yugoslavia fourth.
1934	Italy	Round of 16	Italy	16	David Gould	The USA had only qualified in the qualifier against Mexico just before the World Cup in Rome and lost the opening game against the hosts and eventual world champions with a 1: 7 three days later. To date, this is the USA's biggest World Cup defeat and the first game with the highest number of goals in a World Cup.
1938	France	withdrawn	-	-
1950	Brazil	Preliminary round	England , Spain , Chile	10	William Jeffrey	After defeats against Spain and Chile and a surprising victory against the "motherland of football", which had competed for the first time at a World Cup, they were eliminated from the bottom of the group.
1954	Switzerland	not qualified	-	-		In the qualification of Mexico failed.
1958	Sweden	not qualified	-	-		In the qualifiers in the group stage of Mexico failed.
1962	Chile	not qualified	-	-		In the qualifiers in the first round of Mexico failed.
1966	England	not qualified	-	-		Again in the qualifying round failed to Mexico .
1970	Mexico	not qualified	-	-		In qualifying in the semi-finals, Haiti failed, which also failed to qualify.
1974	Germany	not qualified	-	-		In the qualification in the first round, Mexico failed, which also failed to qualify.
1978	Argentina	not qualified	-	-		In the qualification again in the 1st round and again failed to Mexico .
1982	Spain	not qualified	-	-		Mexico failed again in the first round of qualification .
1986	Mexico	not qualified	-	-		Failed in the qualification in the 2nd round to Costa Rica , which could not qualify either.
1990	Italy	Preliminary round	CSSR , Italy , Austria	23	Bob Gansler	Eliminated after three defeats as bottom of the group.
1994	United States	Round of 16	Brazil	14th	Bora Milutinović	The USA survived the preliminary round as one of the four best thirds in the group. The USA held a 0-0 draw against the eventual world champions for 75 minutes and then had to accept the decisive goal by Bebeto .
1998	France	Preliminary round	Germany , Iran , FR Yugoslavia	32	Steve Sampson	Eliminated after three defeats as bottom of the group.
2002	South Korea / Japan	Quarter finals	Germany	8th	Bruce Arena	After a 3-2 win against the highly rated Portuguese and a 1-1 draw against the later semi-finalists South Korea in the preliminary round, the USA defeated Mexico 2-0 and only lost 1-0 in the quarter-finals despite their superiority and several chances to score against Germany. Outstanding here are Oliver Kahn and Donovan.
2006	Germany	Preliminary round	Czech Republic , Italy , Ghana	25th	Bruce Arena	After defeats against the Czech Republic and Ghana as well as a draw against eventual world champions Italy, they were eliminated as bottom group.
2010	South Africa	Round of 16	Ghana	12	Bob Bradley	For the first time after 1930, the USA survived the preliminary round as group winners. In the round of 16, the decision was made in extra time.
2014	Brazil	Round of 16	Belgium	15th	Jürgen Klinsmann	In the fourth round of qualifying , the USA met Costa Rica , Honduras , Jamaica , Mexico and Panama . On September 10, 2013 they qualified early for the 2014 World Cup with a 2-0 win against Mexico. In the group stage of the final round, the team initially won 2-1 against Ghana, the last opponent at the 2010 World Cup, and separated 2-2 from Portugal, and finally a 0-1 defeat against Germany was enough for her to move into the last sixteen, in which the team met Belgium and lost 2-1 a.s. and thus eliminated.
2018	Russia	not qualified				Failed in the fifth round of the CONCACAF qualification in Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico and Panama.
2022	Qatar

Statistics (data including qualification 2014: 20 world championships; percentages are rounded)

• Participation waiver: 1 × (5%; 1938)
• Unqualified: 11 × (52%; 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986 and 2018)
• Sports qualification: 8 × (38% or 44% of the attempts)
• Participation without qualification (e.g. as a host): 2 × (10%; 1930, 1994)
  • Preliminary round: 4 × (19%; 1950, 1990, 1998, 2006)
  • Round of 16: 4 × (19%; 1934, 1994, 2010, 2014)
  • Quarter-finals: 1 × (5%; 2002)
  • Semi-finals: 1 × (5%; 1930) - later in third place after defeat by FIFA

1930 in Uruguay

The US team at the first World Cup

The first World Cup in Uruguay took place at the end of the golden era of soccer in the United States. In 1921 the American Soccer League (ASL) was founded, supported by industrial groups such as Bethlehem Steel , Robins Shipyards and J&P Coates . Professionals from England and Scotland also played in the ASL. When there was a dispute between the professional league and the US federation, the boom ended. In addition, many sponsors withdrew during the global economic crisis .

At the World Cup, the Americans won the two preliminary round matches against Belgium and Paraguay 3-0 each, with Bart McGhee scoring the first World Cup goal for the USA and Bert Patenaude as the first player to score three goals, which has only been in the since 1994 Statistics can be found. In the semifinals, the team lost to Argentina 6-1, as did the last remaining European team from Yugoslavia to the hosts Uruguay . A game for third place did not take place. In later statistics, the USA team came third.

1934 in Italy

The USA registered too late for the first World Cup in Europe , but since FIFA did not want to do without them, they were allowed to play against the actually qualified Mexican team 3 days before the World Cup in Rome . Though adjacent, they had never played against each other before. The USA won the game 4-2, with Aldo Donelli scoring all four goals. For Mexico, after a month-long journey by ship and train, the World Cup was over before it really started. The USA only won another game against Mexico in 1980. In the first game of the World Cup, the Americans lost 7-1 to hosts Italy , the highest result ever achieved in their first game.

1938 in France

The USA initially registered for the first World Cup in France and played against Cuba in the first round , but then withdrew for religious reasons to avoid the risk of having to play on a Sunday.

Since Colombia , Costa Rica , Mexico , El Salvador and Dutch Guiana (today's Suriname) also canceled, Cuba qualified for the 1938 World Cup in France without a qualifier.

1950 in Brazil

The USA and Mexico competed against Cuba to qualify for the second World Cup in South America . The USA lost two highs against Mexico, played 1-1 in Cuba and won 5-2 at home against the Cubans, which meant that Mexico, which had won all games, and the USA qualified for the World Cup.

In Brazil they lost 3-1 to Spain , then a sensational 1-0 win against England , who had condescended to take part in the World Cup for the first time, and a 5-2 defeat against Chile , with which the USA won for Farewell to the World Cup for 40 years. In a time when there was no internet, the results were not yet transmitted just-in-time and the 1-0 win against the English was unthinkable for English sports editors. Therefore, a transmission error was assumed and the transmitted result was converted into a 10: 1. When the correctness of the 1-0 was found, the Daily Mirror spoke of a humiliation.

1954 in Switzerland

For the 1954 FIFA World Cup a team from North and Central America was only approved and Mexico succeeded by four victories against the United States and Haiti qualifying, the US whereas for the first time did not qualify.

1958 in Sweden

The qualification for the World Cup in Sweden was even worse. For the first time, six teams from North and Central America wanted to qualify, but again there was only one place for them in the finals. The USA then lost their four games against Mexico and Canada in the first qualifying round . Mexico qualified for the World Cup in Sweden and was eliminated there in the preliminary round.

1962 in Chile

Seven teams from North and Central America wanted to qualify for the World Cup in Chile . Nevertheless, the North and Central Americans were not granted a direct starting place, but the winner of the North and Central America qualification had to compete against a South American team. But the USA didn't get that far. Already in the first round they were eliminated after a 3: 3 and a 0: 3 against Mexico . Mexico succeeded in qualifying for the World Cup in Chile in the relegation against Paraguay and was eliminated there in the preliminary round.

1966 in England

Nine teams from North and Central America wanted to qualify for the World Cup in the motherland of football . In the first round, three teams in each group played twice against the other two teams. The USA only played a draw at home against Mexico, lost in Mexico, waived their home rights against Honduras and were able to win and play once in Honduras. So the qualification failed again in the first round. Mexico secured the World Cup starting place.

1970 in Mexico

Since Mexico was automatically qualified to host the first World Cup in Central America , this stumbling block was eliminated. 12 teams have now applied for second place on the grid. After losing their first game in Canada, the USA were able to qualify for the semifinals with three wins against Canada and Bermuda , but were defeated there twice against Haiti , which then failed in the final against El Salvador . The World Cup took place in the neighboring country without the USA.

1974 in the Federal Republic of Germany

The USA was again unable to qualify for the first World Cup in Germany , as Mexico was again too strong in the first qualifying round and even against its northern neighbor Canada it was only enough to win one point. To everyone's surprise, the Mexicans did not qualify either and Haiti took part in its only World Cup to date and surprised the Italians in particular .

1978 in Argentina

For the fourth World Cup in South America , the USA first had to deal with their northern and southern neighbors in the first round . Since each team won, lost and played once, they all had 4: 4 points in the end. The Mexicans had the better goal difference and were directly qualified for the second round. There was a play-off between Canada and the USA in Port-au-Prince , which Canada won 3-0 and thus advanced to the second round. This took place as the CONCACAF Nations Cup in Mexico in 1977 and Mexico used the home advantage to qualify with five wins.

1982 in Spain

In qualifying for the World Cup in Spain, the two neighbors were again the opponents in the first round, but although Mexico were defeated at home, a draw in the home game against Canada was not enough, because the two away games were lost. Surprisingly, the two neighbors also failed at the 1981 CONCACAF Nations Cup at El Salvador and Honduras .

1986 in Mexico

Although the Mexican national soccer team was automatically qualified to host the second World Cup in Mexico , it was more difficult for the rest of the CONCACAF teams to qualify for the 1986 World Cup than in 1982. FIFA only gave all the remaining CONCACAF teams a single starting place the 1986 final tournament available. In the first round, the USA also beat the Netherlands Antilles 0-0 and 4-0 . In the second round Costa Rica was too strong, but it failed in the third round to Canada , which was able to qualify for the only time so far.

1990 in Italy

For the second World Cup in Italy , the US abstinence could stage World Cup then again after 40 years of qualifying , but also benefited from the suspension of Mexico by FIFA and by the fact that as in 1982 again two World Cup starting places in the CONCACAF - World Cup qualifications have been awarded. First, Jamaica, which had previously eliminated Puerto Rico , was defeated. At the 1989 CONCACAF Nations Cup , which served as the final qualifying round, second place was tied with Costa Rica, thus securing participation in Italy.

In Italy, the USA met Czechoslovakia in their first game and came under the wheels 1: 5. They lost 1-0 to hosts Italy and 2-1 to Austria , so that the World Cup was over in the preliminary round.

1994 in the United States

The USA were automatically qualified for the World Cup after winning ten votes against Morocco (seven votes) and Brazil (two votes).

In the opening game against Switzerland, however, only a 1: 1 was achieved. The second game against Colombia was won 2-1. The Colombian Andrés Escobar underwent an own goal, whereupon he was shot by the bodyguard and driver of a drug lord after returning to Colombia. Due to the 0: 1 in the last group game, only third place in the group was achieved, but the second round was one of the best thirds in the group. There the USA lost 1-0 against eventual world champions Brazil . The USA were coached by Bora Milutinović , for whom this was the third World Cup with a different country. Two more countries should follow.

1998 in France

For the second World Cup in France , for which three CONCACAF teams were allowed to qualify, the USA could then again qualify in terms of sport . In the semi-finals, the team initially prevailed together with Costa Rica against Guatemala and Trinidad & Tobago . In the final round Mexico was a bit stronger again, but second place ahead of Jamaica, which was also able to qualify for the first time, qualified for participation.

In France, the USA was drawn into a politically explosive group, because there the USA met Iran , with which there has been an open conflict since the overthrow of the Shah , and the Serb-dominated Federal Republic of Yugoslavia , which the USA is largely to blame the problems in the former Yugoslavia. Another opponent was European champions Germany , who met the USA in the first game and lost 2-0. Before the game against Iran, the players presented each other with white roses and after a fair game that was lost 2-1, both teams lined up for a farewell photo. For this behavior, both teams received the fair play award from FIFA at the end of 1998. In the end, they lost 1-0 to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and went home without points. After the World Cup, Steve Sampson's tenure as national coach ended and Bruce Arena was his successor .

2002 in Japan and South Korea

In qualifying for the first World Cup in Asia , the USA were able to prevail in the second round together with Costa Rica against Guatemala and Barbados , with Costa Rica needing an additional playoff against Guatemala. In the final round, Costa Rica and Mexico were a bit better, but third place was enough for participation.

In South Korea, the USA surprisingly won the opening game against the more highly rated Portuguese 3-2, of whom Luís Figo had been voted best player in the 2000 European Football Championship two years earlier . A 1-1 draw was fought against co-hosts South Korea , so that the 3-1 defeat against Poland at the end of the group phase could be coped with and the round of 16 reached. Here the eternal rival Mexico was the opponent and with a 2-0 they made it into the quarter-finals against Germany. In this game the USA were the better team, but failed again and again to Oliver Kahn , the best player of the tournament, and lost with 0: 1. Outstanding among the USA team was the 20-year-old Landon Donovan , who a few years later, after this award was introduced, was subsequently voted best young player at the 2002 World Cup and scored 57 goals for the USA over the course of his career should, with which he became the US top scorer.

2006 in Germany

For the second World Cup in Germany , the US team qualified as the best CONCACAF team. The team only had to intervene in the second round and won both games against Grenada . In the third round, points were only given in the draws against Jamaica and Panama , otherwise all games were won, including twice against El Salvador . The fourth round was finished tied with Mexico as group winners, but by direct comparison the USA were group winners.

In Germany, the first game against the Czech Republic , which had qualified for the first time after the division of Czechoslovakia , was lost 3-0. They fought 1-1 against eventual world champions Italy , but lost the final game against newcomers to the World Cup, Ghana, with 2-1 and only finished last in the group. With the end, the term of office of Bruce Arena ended , who was replaced by his friend Bob Bradley . Arena was the coach of the USA in a total of 130 international matches and was thus the record national coach. Worldwide only nine trainers worked for a country more often.

2010 in South Africa

The US team qualified again for the first World Cup in Africa . In the third qualifying round, the teams from Guatemala and Cuba were eliminated together with Trinidad & Tobago . The USA ended the fourth round as the best team ahead of Mexico and Honduras , which reached the World Cup finals for the first time since 1982. Costa Rica , which failed in the playoffs to Uruguay , El Salvador and Trinidad and Tobago were relegated to the places.

In South Africa they won 1: 1 against England in the opening game , then 2: 2 against Slovenia and with a 1: 0 in stoppage time against Algeria, the group winners reached the knockout round. Here the USA lost 2-1 to Ghana in extra time.

2014 in Brazil

Fans at the game against Germany in Recife

After the USA lost to Mexico in the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup final, Bob Bradley's tenure ended after 60 games and the former German national coach Jürgen Klinsmann succeeded him. He initially succeeded in winning the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup and then again as best team in the CONCACAF , the qualification for the second World Cup in Brazil . The team only had to enter in the third round and then prevailed against Jamaica, Guatemala and Antigua and Barbuda. The fourth round finished first in the group ahead of Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Panama and Jamaica . The Americans did the Mexicans another service: In the last game in Panama it was 2-1 for Panama until the 90th minute, which meant that Panama would have reached the intercontinental playoffs in fourth place ahead of Mexico. Then Graham Zusi and Aron Jóhannsson scored two goals in the 90th minute to make it 3-2 for the USA. As a result, Mexico was fourth and was then able to prevail against New Zealand in the playoffs. Surprisingly, when the World Cup squad was nominated, Klinsmann decided not to include record scorer Landon Donovan , who was still one of the top scorers at the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

In Brazil, the USA met Ghana in their first game and took revenge for the knockout round four years earlier with a 2-1 win. In the second game against Portugal , the USA managed a 2-2 draw, with former German international Jermaine Jones scored the 1-1 equalizer. After the 2-1 win by captain Clint Dempsey , the team already had one leg in the round of 16. In the 5th minute of stoppage time, Silvestre Varela managed to equalize, so that the round of 16 again depended on the results of the last match day. In the last game the USA met Germany . A draw was enough for both teams to move into the knockout round and due to the friendly relations between the two coaches (the German national coach Joachim Löw was previously Klinsmann's assistant coach at the World Cup in Germany and then became his successor) memories were created of the Gijón Non-Aggression Pact . But both emphasized that they wanted to play to win in order to be group winners, which only the German team managed. With 0: 1 they lost to Germany. But since Portugal only won 2-1 against Ghana in the parallel game, this narrow defeat could be cope with and the move into the round of 16 celebrated. In the round of 16, after another 1: 2 after extra time - this time against Belgium - it was over again, with all goals falling in extra time.

2018 in Russia

In qualifying for the World Cup in Russia , the USA only had to intervene in the fourth round. As of November 2015, opponents were Trinidad & Tobago , St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Guatemala . As group winners the fifth round was reached against Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Panama and again Trinidad & Tobago. After the USA had lost the first two group games against Mexico and Costa Rica with 1: 2 and 0: 4, national coach Jürgen Klinsmann was dismissed. The office was taken over by Bruce Arena , who had already coached the US team between 1998 and 2006. Under him, Honduras was defeated 6-0 in March 2017, but only reached 1-1 in Panama. The first half of the season ended with a 2-0 win against Trinidad and Tobago. At the start of the second half of the season, there was a 1-1 draw against a Mexican team that competed with their squad for the 2017 Confederations Cup and also used the game as the last preparation game for the Confederations Cup. Shortly afterwards, the USA won the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup , in which defending champions Mexico competed without the Confederate Cup players. It was followed by a home defeat to Costa Rica and a 1-1 draw in Honduras. With a 4-0 win against Panama in the penultimate game, the USA were in third place with 12 points and +5 goals before Panama (10 points, −2 goals) and Honduras (10 points, −7 goals). They therefore only needed one point from the last game at Trinidad and Tobago for direct qualification, whereas Panama and Honduras had to win in home games against the already qualified Costa Ricans and Mexicans respectively. The USA then lost against Trinidad and Tobago 2-1, while Panama and Honduras won and thus overtook the USA, which could not qualify as fifth in the group. Bruce Arena subsequently resigned from his post.

Ranking of the US American World Cup players with the most appearances

Landon Donovan (left), World Cup record player and goal scorer of the USA in the game against Algeria at the 2010 World Cup

01. Landon Donovan - 12 appearances in 3 tournaments

02. DaMarcus Beasley , Cobi Jones and Earnie Stewart - 11 appearances in 3 and 4 (Beasley) tournaments respectively

05. Clint Dempsey , Brian McBride and Claudio Reyna - 10 appearances in 3 tournaments

08. Eddie Pope and Tab Ramos - 9 appearances in 3 tournaments

10. Eric Wynalda and Marcelo Balboa - 8 appearances in 3 tournaments

Ranking of the US World Cup players with the most World Cup goals

01. Landon Donovan - 5 goals

02. Clint Dempsey and Bert Patenaude - 4 goals each

04. Brian McBride - 3 goals

World Cup captains

• 1930: Tom Florie
• 1934: George Moorhouse
• 1950: Harry Keough (1st game), Ed McIlvenny (2nd game), Walter Bahr (3rd game)
• 1990: Tony Meola (1st game), Mike Windischmann (2nd and 3rd game)
• 1994: Tony Meola
• 1998: Thomas Dooley
• 2002: Earnie Stewart (1st game, 1st half), Claudio Reyna (from 2nd game)
• 2006: Claudio Reyna
• 2010: Carlos Bocanegra
• 2014: Clint Dempsey

Players banned from World Championships

• 1990: In the first game against Czechoslovakia was Eric Wynalda the red card and was for the second game against Italy blocked. Jimmy Banks received the second yellow card in the last group game against Austria . Since the US eliminated, it had no further effect.
• 1994: John Harkes received the second yellow card in the last group match and was suspended for the round of 16 against Brazil . In this Fernando Clavijo received the yellow-red card , since the USA was eliminated, it had no further effect.
• 2002: Frankie Hejduk received the second yellow card in the last group game against Poland and was suspended for the round of 16 against Mexico . Gregg Berhalter , Pablo Mastroeni and Eddie Pope received the second yellow card in the quarter-finals against Germany . Since the US left, they had no further effect.
• 2006: Pablo Mastroeni received the red card in the second group match against Italy and was suspended for the last group match against Ghana as was Eddie Pope , who received the yellow-red card.
• 2010: Robbie Findley received the second yellow card in the second group match against Slovenia and was suspended for the last group match against Algeria. The second yellow card for Steven Cherundolo in the round of 16 against Ghana had no further effect due to the elimination.

Share of players playing abroad in the World Cup squad

For the first time in the renewed qualification after 40 years, legionaries were used in 1990 . After that, the national coaches also looked specifically in Europe for players with US roots, e.g. B. Children of US soldiers. From 2010 legionaries made up the main part of the cadre.

Year (games)	Number (countries)	Players (stakes)
1930 and 1934, 1950	0
1990 (3)	3 (1 in Germany, 1 in the Netherlands, 1 in Hungary)	Paul Caligiuri (3); Peter Vermes (3); Christopher Sullivan (2)
1994 (4)	7 (1 in Germany, 3 in England, 1 in Mexico, 1 in the Netherlands, 1 in Spain)	Eric Wynalda (4); John Harkes (3), Juergen Sommer (0), Roy Wegerle (4); Cle Kooiman (1); Earnie Stewart (4); Tab Ramos (4)
1998 (3)	6 (3 in Germany, 2 in England, 1 in the Netherlands)	Chad Deering (1), David Régis (3), Claudio Reyna (3); Brad Friedel (1), Kasey Keller (2); Earnie Stewart (3)
2002 (5)	11 (3 in Germany, 6 in England, 1 in France, 1 in the Netherlands)	Steven Cherundolo (0), Frankie Hejduk (4), Tony Sanneh (5); Gregg Berhalter (2), Brad Friedel (5), Kasey Keller (0), Eddie Lewis (3), Joe-Max Moore (2), Claudio Reyna (4); David Regis (5); Earnie Stewart (4)
2006 (3)	11 (1 in Belgium, 3 in Germany, 7 in England, 1 in the Netherlands)	Oguchi Onyewu (3); Gregg Berhalter (0), Steven Cherundolo (3), Kasey Keller (3); Carlos Bocanegra (2), Bobby Convey (3), Marcus Hahnemann (0), Tim Howard (0), Eddie Lewis (2), Brian McBride (3), Claudio Reyna (3); DaMarcus Beasley (3)
2010 (4)	19 (1 in Denmark, 3 in Germany, 8 in England, 1 in France, 1 in Italy, 2 in Mexico, 1 in Norway, 2 in Scotland)	Benny Feilhaber (3); Michael Bradley (4), Steven Cherundolo (4), Ricardo Clark (2); Jozy Altidore (4), Jay DeMerit (4), Clint Dempsey (4), Brad Guzan (0), Marcus Hahnemann (0), Stuart Holden (1), Tim Howard (4), Jonathan Spector (0); Carlos Bocanegra (4); Oguchi Onyewu (2); Hérculez Gómez (3), José Francisco Torres (1); Clarence Goodson (0); DaMarcus Beasley (4), Maurice Edu (3)
2014 (4)	14 (4 in Germany, 4 in England, 1 in France, 1 in Canada, 1 in Mexico, 1 in the Netherlands, 1 in Norway, 1 in Turkey)	John Anthony Brooks (1), Timothy Chandler (0), Julian Green (1), Fabian Johnson (4); Jozy Altidore (1), Geoff Cameron (3), Brad Guzan (0), Tim Howard (4); Alejandro Bedoya (4); Michael Bradley (4); DaMarcus Beasley (4); Aron Jóhannsson (1); Mix Diskerud (0); Jermaine Jones (4)

Games

The USA has played 33 World Cup games so far. Of these, 8 were won, 19 lost and 6 ended in a draw. Twice draw games had to be extended because a winner had to be determined, both were lost.

The United States participated in the first game once in 1934, which is now counted as the opening game. The USA have had four home games so far and had to face the hosts three times: in the first game in 1934 (round of 16), 1990 and 2002 (preliminary round)

The USA lost four times (1934, 1994, 2014) to the eventual world champion, and in 2006 they scored 1-1 against the eventual world champion in the preliminary round.

The USA never played against the defending champions.

The USA met World Cup newbies five times: 1934 / Italy , 1950 / England , 1998 / BR Yugoslavia, 2006 / Ghana and the Czech Republic .

Most frequent last opponent: Ghana - twice, Ghana is also together with Germany and Italy the most common opponent overall (three times each).

All World Cup games
No.	date	Result	opponent		venue	occasion	comment
1.	07/13/1930	3-0	Belgium	*	Montevideo ( URY )	Preliminary round	First international match against Belgium
2.	07/17/1930	3-0	Paraguay	*	Montevideo ( URY )	Preliminary round	First international match against Paraguay
3.	07/26/1930	1: 6	Argentina	*	Montevideo ( URY )	Semifinals
4th	May 27, 1934	1: 7	Italy	A.	Rome ( ITA )	Round of 16	First international match against Italy
5.	06/25/1950	1: 3	Spain	*	Curitiba ( BRA )	Preliminary round	First international match against Spain
6th	06/29/1950	1-0	England	*	Belo Horizonte ( BRA )	Preliminary round	First international match against England
7th	07/02/1950	2: 5	Chile	*	Recife ( BRA )	Preliminary round	First international match against Chile
8th.	06/10/1990	1: 5	Czechoslovakia	*	Florence ( ITA )	Preliminary round	Only international match against Czechoslovakia
9.	06/14/1990	0: 1	Italy	A.	Rome ( ITA )	Preliminary round
10.	06/19/1990	1: 2	Austria	*	Florence ( ITA )	Preliminary round	First international match against Austria
11.	06/18/1994	1: 1	Switzerland	H	Pontiac	Preliminary round
12.	06/22/1994	2: 1	Colombia	H	Pasadena	Preliminary round
13.	06/26/1994	0: 1	Romania	H	Pasadena	Preliminary round	Game with the most spectators (93,869)
14th	07/04/1994	0: 1	Brazil	H	Palo Alto	Round of 16
15th	06/15/1998	0: 2	Germany	*	Paris ( FRA )	Preliminary round	100th international match by Eric Wynalda
16.	06/21/1998	1: 2	Iran	*	Lyon ( FRA )	Preliminary round	First international match against Iran
17th	06/25/1998	0: 1	BR Yugoslavia	*	Nantes ( FRA )	Preliminary round	First international match against Yugoslavia
18th	06/05/2002	3: 2	Portugal	*	Suwon ( KOR )	Preliminary round
19th	06/10/2002	1: 1	South Korea	A.	Daegu ( KOR )	Preliminary round
20th	06/14/2002	1: 3	Poland	*	Daejeon ( KOR )	Preliminary round	100th international game by Joe-Max Moore , 400th USA game according to FIFA counts
21st	06/17/2002	2-0	Mexico	*	Jeonju ( KOR )	Round of 16
22nd	06/21/2002	0: 1	Germany	*	Ulsan ( KOR )	Quarter finals
23.	06/12/2006	0: 3	Czech Republic	*	Gelsenkirchen ( DEU )	Preliminary round	First international match against the Czech Republic
24.	06/17/2006	1: 1	Italy	*	Kaiserslautern ( DEU )	Preliminary round
25th	06/22/2006	1: 2	Ghana	*	Nuremberg ( DEU )	Preliminary round	First international match against Ghana
26th	06/12/2010	1: 1	England	*	Rustenburg ( ZAF )	World Cup 2010 preliminary round
27.	06/18/2010	2: 2	Slovenia	*	Johannesburg ( ZAF )	World Cup 2010 preliminary round	First international match against Slovenia
28.	06/23/2010	1-0	Algeria	*	Pretoria ( ZAF )	World Cup 2010 preliminary round	First international match against Algeria
29	06/26/2010	1: 2 a.d.	Ghana	*	Rustenburg ( ZAF )	World Cup 2010 round of 16	Landon Donovan scores his 5th World Cup goal, surpassing Bertram Patenaude's 1930 US record
30th	06/16/2014	2: 1	Ghana	*	Natal ( BRA )	2014 World Cup preliminary round
31.	06/22/2014	2: 2	Portugal	*	Manaus ( BRA )	2014 World Cup preliminary round
32.	06/26/2014	0: 1	Germany	*	Recife ( BRA )	2014 World Cup preliminary round
33.	07/01/2014	1: 2 a.d.	Belgium	*	Salvador da Bahia ( BRA )	2014 World Cup round of 16

Highest victories and defeats

The US team achieved their highest victories against the following countries in World Cup tournaments:

•  Algeria : Preliminary round 2010 1-0 (only game against Algeria)
•  Belgium : preliminary round 1930 3-0 (only win against Belgium)
•  Ghana : Preliminary round 2014 2-1 (only win against Ghana)
•  Paraguay : preliminary round 1930 3-0
•  Portugal : 2002 3-2 preliminary round (also a 1-0 win at the 1992 US Cup)

The US team suffered their biggest defeats in World Cup tournaments against the following countries:

•  Chile : Preliminary round 1950 2-5 (also a 0-3 in a friendly game)
•  Ghana : Preliminary round 2006 1: 2 and round of 16 2010 1: 2 a.d. (only defeats against Ghana)
•  Iran : Preliminary round 1998: 1: 2 (only defeats against Iran)
•  BR Yugoslavia : preliminary round 1998: 0: 1 (only game against BR Yugoslavia)
•  Austria : Preliminary round 1990 1: 2 (also a 0: 1 in a friendly game)
•  Romania : 1994 preliminary round 0: 1 (also a 1: 2 in a friendly match)
•  Czechoslovakia : preliminary round 1990 1: 5 (only game against Czechoslovakia)

Records

Host

• The most spectators were at the 1994 World Cup in the USA, 3,587,538 spectators saw the 52 games, which is an average of 68,991 per game
• Westernmost venue: Palo Alto (USA, 1994)

team

• Most frequent pairing in qualifying: USA versus Mexico - 27 games

player

• Bertram Patenaude was the first player to score three goals in a game. On July 17, 1930 he scored all three goals in the game against Paraguay. However, this record was only recognized by FIFA in 1994. Until then, a goal was counted as an own goal by Paraguayan Aurelio González or his teammate Thomas Florie . With these goals he was replaced together with the goal scorer in the first game against Belgium for five days and then by Guillermo Stábile , who increased the record to 8 goals.
• On June 22, 2014, Jermaine Jones scored the 2300th World Cup goal with a 1-1 draw against Portugal.

Negative records

• Loss in the first game with the highest number of goals in a World Cup: USA - Italy 7-1 on May 27, 1934 (also the highest loss in a round of 16 and against a host)
• Biggest defeat in a semi-final after the preliminary round (only 1930): 1: 6 against Argentina (also Yugoslavia - Uruguay 1: 6 in the same year)
• Worst team at the 1998 World Cup (ranked 32nd by FIFA).
• The United States have scored the fewest goals of the teams that have competed at least ten times: 37

See also

• United States Women's National Soccer Team / World Championships

Web links

• Soccer World - Statistics - USA on fifa.com
• fifa.com: "Statistical overview: records and milestones"

References and footnotes

1. ↑ The placements from 5th place onwards were determined by FIFA without any placement games. See: All-time FIFA World Cup Ranking 1930-2014 (PDF; 200 kB)
2. ↑ FIFA.com: Past Tournaments
3. ↑ nytimes.com: "Mexico Given Ban in Soccer"
4. ↑ fifa.com: "FIFA World Cup Italy 1990 - Games"
5. ↑ fifa.com: "1994 FIFA World Cup USA - Games"
6. ↑ fifa.com: "2006 FIFA World Cup Germany - Games"
7. ↑ fifa.com: "2010 FIFA World Cup - Games"
8. ↑ weltfussball.de "Panama - USA 2: 3"
9. ↑ ussoccer.com: Bruce Arena Resigns as US Men's National Team Head Coach
10. ↑ In their match reports, FIFA names Windischmann as the captain of the 2nd and 3rd games, while the rsssf.com statistics mention Meola as the captain of the 3 games.