Football
Soccer

    United States

    United States, Team, 2013

    A growing force in international soccer? The United States are certainly a team to watch having won the Gold Cup seven times and the Nations League on three occasions.

    The United States men's national team played the first-ever international match outside the United Kingdom in 1885 when they lost 1-0 to Canada in Newark, New Jersey.

    The next year, the two teams again played in Newark, and the US won 1-0, but neither game was officially recognised. The first recognised game came in 1916 when the US beat Sweden 3-2 in Stockholm.

    Managed by Scotland native Robert Millar, the US took third place at the first-ever FIFA World Cup in Uruguay in 1930. They played in three of the first four World Cups before a 40-year hiatus.

    Since 1990 when Bob Gansler led them to the World Cup in Italy, the US have appeared in eight of nine tournaments. Their best finish in that stretch was a quarter-final appearance in 2002.

    The United States hosted the 1994 World Cup, a landmark event for the sport around the country. They will co-host the 2026 World Cup with Mexico and Canada, with the finals scheduled to be played in the US.

    The US team did not qualify for the Gold Cup (known as the CONCACAF Championship before 1991) from 1963 to 1985. Since 1989, they have finished first or second in 13 of 17 Gold Cups, winning seven championships.

    In the Summer Olympics, the US team won the silver and bronze medals in the 1904 Games but have not medaled since.

    They qualified for 10 of 14 Olympics before the event became a U-23 tournament in 1992. The U-23 team have qualified for four of the eight Olympics since 1992 with a fourth-place finish in 2000.

    In recent years their biggest success came when winning three consecutive CONCACAF Nations Leagues in 2021, 2023 and 2024.

    Early years at the World Cup

    'The Miracle on Grass'

    Return to the World Cup

    1994 home World Cup

    New millennium, new success

    Success under Berhalter

    Rivalry with Mexico

    American icons

    United States News