U.S. Cup

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The U.S. Cup (also known as the USA Cup, United States Cup and Nike U.S. Cup) was a soccer cup held annually in the United States from 1991 to 2000, except for the World Cup years of 1994 and 1998. The cup, hosted by the United States Soccer Federation was contested between the United States and three guest teams.

The cup was created to train the American soccer team and to popularize the sport in the US. Originally known as the U.S. Cup, the name was changed to the Nike U.S. Cup after Nike, Inc. singed a ten-year, $120 million contract with USSF to sponsor the U.S. national teams in October 1997, As part of the contract, USSF added Nike's name to the U.S. Cup title.[1]

In 1995, USSF added a women's competition which ran every year, including 1998, until 1999.

Format

The cup was traditionally played in a single round-robin format between the four participating national teams.

The 1999 edition of the men's tournament was played in a single-elimination tournament. The first round was the semifinals. The losers of the semifinals played then a third place match, and the winners of the semifinals played the final match.

List of Champions

Men's Tournament

Year Champion Runner-up Third place Fourth place
1992
details
 United States  Italy  Republic of Ireland  Portugal
1993
details
 Germany  Brazil  United States  England
1995
details
 United States  Colombia  Mexico  Nigeria
1996
details
 Mexico  Republic of Ireland  United States  Bolivia
1997
details
 Mexico  Denmark  Peru  United States
1999
details
 Mexico  United States  Guatemala  Bolivia
2000
details
 United States  Republic of Ireland  Mexico  South Africa

Women's Tournament

Year Champion Runner-up Third place Fourth place
1995  United States  Norway  Australia  Chinese Taipei
1996  United States  China  Japan  Canada
1997  United States  Italy  Australia  Canada
1998  United States  Brazil  Russia  Mexico
1999  United States  Brazil  Finland  South Korea

Titles by Country

Men's Tournament

Women's Tournament

External links