United States at the FIFA World Cup

The United States men's national soccer team has played in several World Cup finals, with their best result occurring during their first appearance at the 1930 World Cup, when the United States finished in third place.^[1] After the 1950 World Cup, in which the United States upset England in group play 1–0, the U.S. was absent from the finals until 1990. The United States has participated in every World Cup since 1990 until 2014, but they did not qualify for the 2018 competition for the first time since 1986 after a loss to Trinidad and Tobago.

The World Cup is an international football competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946, due to World War II. The current format of the World Cup involves 32 teams competing for the title, at venues within the host nation (or nations) over a period of about a month. The World Cup finals is the most widely viewed sporting event in the world, with an estimated 715 million people watching the 2006 tournament final.^[2]

Record at the FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup record										Qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930	Third place^{[note 1]}	3rd	3	2	0	1	7	6	Squad	Qualified as invitees
1934	Round of 16	16th	1	0	0	1	1	7	Squad	1	1	0	0	4	2
1938	Withdrew									Withdrew
1950	Group stage	10th	3	1	0	2	4	8	Squad	4	1	1	2	8	15
1954	Did not qualify									4	2	0	2	7	9
1958										4	0	0	4	5	21
1962										2	0	1	1	3	6
1966										4	1	2	1	4	5
1970										6	3	0	3	11	9
1974										4	0	1	3	6	10
1978										5	1	2	2	3	7
1982										4	1	1	2	4	8
1986										6	3	2	1	8	3
1990	Group stage	23rd	3	0	0	3	2	8	Squad	10	5	4	1	11	4
1994	Round of 16	14th	4	1	1	2	3	4	Squad	Qualified as hosts
1998	Group stage	32nd	3	0	0	3	1	5	Squad	16	8	6	2	27	14
2002	Quarter-finals	8th	5	2	1	2	7	7	Squad	16	8	4	4	25	11
2006	Group stage	25th	3	0	1	2	2	6	Squad	18	12	4	2	35	11
2010	Round of 16	12th	4	1	2	1	5	5	Squad	18	13	2	3	42	16
2014	Round of 16	15th	4	1	1	2	5	6	Squad	16	11	2	3	26	14
2018	Did not qualify									16	7	4	5	37	16
2022	Round of 16	14th	4	1	2	1	3	4	Squad	14	7	4	3	21	10
2026	Qualified as co-hosts									Qualified as co-hosts
2030	To be determined									To be determined
2034	To be determined									To be determined
Total	Semi-finals	12/23	37	9	8	20	40	66	—	168	84	40	44	287	191

*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks

United States' World Cup record
First Match	United States 3–0 Belgium (13 July 1930; Montevideo, Uruguay)
Biggest Win	United States 3–0 Belgium (13 July 1930; Montevideo, Uruguay) United States 3–0 Paraguay (17 July 1930; Montevideo, Uruguay)
Biggest Defeat	Italy 7–1 United States (27 May 1934; Rome, Italy)
Best Result	Third place in 1930 (0 titles)
Worst Result	Group Stage in 1934, 1950, 1990, 1998 and 2006

By Match

World Cup	Round	Opponent	Score	Result	Venue	Scorers
1930	Group stage	Belgium	3–0	W	Montevideo	B. McGhee, T. Florie, B. Patenaude
	Group stage	Paraguay	3–0	W	Montevideo	B. Patenaude (3)
	Semi-finals	Argentina	1–6	L	Montevideo	J. Brown
1934	Round of 16	Italy	1–7	L	Rome	A. Donelli
1950	Group stage	Spain	1–3	L	Curitiba	G. Pariani
		England	1–0	W	Belo Horizonte	J. Gaetjens
		Chile	2–5	L	Recife	F. Wallace, J. Maca
1990	Group stage	Czechoslovakia	1–5	L	Florence	P. Caligiuri
		Italy	0–1	L	Rome	—
		Austria	1–2	L	Florence	B. Murray
1994	Group stage	Switzerland	1–1	D	Pontiac	E. Wynalda
		Colombia	2–1	W	Pasadena	A. Escobar (o.g.), E. Stewart
		Romania	0–1	L	Pasadena	—
	Round of 16	Brazil	0–1	L	Stanford	—
1998	Group stage	Germany	0–2	L	Paris	—
		Iran	1–2	L	Lyon	B. McBride
		FR Yugoslavia	0–1	L	Nantes	—
2002	Group stage	Portugal	3–2	W	Suwon	J. O'Brien, J. Costa (o.g.), B. McBride
		South Korea	1–1	D	Daegu	C. Mathis
		Poland	1–3	L	Daejeon	L. Donovan
	Round of 16	Mexico	2–0	W	Jeonju	B. McBride, L. Donovan
	Quarter-finals	Germany	0–1	L	Ulsan	—
2006	Group stage	Czech Republic	0–3	L	Gelsenkirchen	—
		Italy	1–1	D	Kaiserslautern	C. Zaccardo (o.g.)
		Ghana	1–2	L	Nuremberg	C. Dempsey
2010	Group stage	England	1–1	D	Rustenburg	C. Dempsey
		Slovenia	2–2	D	Johannesburg	L. Donovan, M. Bradley
		Algeria	1–0	W	Pretoria	L. Donovan
	Round of 16	Ghana	1–2 (a.e.t.)	L	Rustenburg	L. Donovan
2014	Group stage	Ghana	2–1	W	Natal	C. Dempsey, J. Brooks
		Portugal	2–2	D	Manaus	J. Jones, C. Dempsey
		Germany	0–1	L	Recife	—
	Round of 16	Belgium	1–2 (a.e.t.)	L	Salvador	J. Green

Record by Opponent

FIFA World Cup matches (by team)
Opponent	Wins	Draws	Losses	Total	Goals Scored	Goals Conceded
Algeria	1	0	0	1	1	0
Argentina	0	0	1	1	1	6
Austria	0	0	1	1	1	2
Belgium	1	0	1	2	4	2
Brazil	0	0	1	1	0	1
Chile	0	0	1	1	2	5
Colombia	1	0	0	1	2	1
Czech Republic	0	0	1	1	0	3
Czechoslovakia	0	0	1	1	1	5
England	1	1	0	2	2	1
FR Yugoslavia	0	0	1	1	0	1
Germany	0	0	3	3	0	4
Ghana	1	0	2	3	4	5
Iran	0	0	1	1	1	2
Italy	0	1	2	3	2	9
Mexico	1	0	0	1	2	0
Paraguay	1	0	0	1	3	0
Poland	0	0	1	1	1	3
Portugal	1	1	0	2	5	4
Romania	0	0	1	1	0	1
Slovenia	0	1	0	1	2	2
South Korea	0	1	0	1	1	1
Spain	0	0	1	1	1	3
Switzerland	0	1	0	1	1	1

Individual tournament results

Uruguay 1930 FIFA World Cup

Group 4 final standings

Template:Fb cl header |- style="background:#cfc;" |align="left"| United States |2||2||0||0||6||0||+6||4 |- |align="left"| Paraguay |2||1||0||1||1||3||−2||2 |- |align="left"| Belgium |2||0||0||2||0||4||−4||0 |}

Games

All times local (UYT)

July 13, 1930

3:00 p.m.

Group 4

United States	3–0	Belgium
	Report

Estadio Parque Central, Montevideo

Attendance: 18,346

Referee: José Macías (Argentina)

July 17, 1930

2:45 p.m.

Group 4

United States	3–0	Paraguay
	Report

Estadio Parque Central, Montevideo

Attendance: 18,306

Referee: José Macías (Argentina)

July 26, 1930

2:45 p.m.

Semifinal

Argentina	6–1	United States
	Report

Estadio Centenario, Montevideo

Attendance: 72,886

Referee: John Langenus (Belgium)

Italy 1934 FIFA World Cup

Game

May 27, 1934

4:30 p.m. (CEST)

Round of 16

Italy	7–1	United States
	Report

Stadio Nazionale PNF, Rome

Attendance: 25,000

Referee: Rene Mercet (Switzerland)

Brazil 1950 FIFA World Cup

Group 2 final standings

Template:Fb cl header |- style="background:#cfc;" |align="left"| Spain |3||3||0||0||6||1||5||6 |- |align="left"| England |3||1||0||2||2||2||0||2 |- |align="left"| Chile |3||1||0||2||5||6|| -1||2 |- |align="left"| United States |3||1||0||2||4||8|| -4||2 |}

Games

All times local BRT (UTC-03)

June 25, 1950

3:00 p.m.

Spain	3–1	United States
	Report

Estádio Durival de Britto, Curitiba

Attendance: 9,511

Referee: Mario Vianna (Brazil)

June 29, 1950

3:00 p.m.

United States	1–0	England
	Report

Estádio Independência, Belo Horizonte

Attendance: 10,151

Referee: Generoso Dattilo (Italy)

July 2, 1950

3:00 p.m.

Chile	5–2	United States
	Report

Estádio Ilha do Retiro, Recife

Attendance: 8,501

Referee: Mario Gardelli (Brazil)

Italy 1990 FIFA World Cup

Group A final standings

Template:Fb cl header |- style="background:#cfc;" |align="left"| Italy |3||3||0||0||4||0||+4||6 |- style="background:#cfc;" |align="left"| Czechoslovakia |3||2||0||1||6||3||+3||4 |- |align="left"| Austria |3||1||0||2||2||3||−1||2 |- |align="left"| United States |3||0||0||3||2||8||−6||0 |}

Games

All times local (CEST/UTC+2)

June 10, 1990

5:00 p.m.

Group A

United States	1–5	Czechoslovakia
	Report

Stadio Comunale, Florence

Attendance: 33,266

Referee: Kurt Röthlisberger (Switzerland)

June 14, 1990

9:00 p.m.

Group A

Italy	1–0	United States
	Report

Stadio Olimpico, Rome

Attendance: 73,423

Referee: Edgardo Codesal (Mexico)

June 19, 1990

9:00 p.m.

Group A

Austria	2–1	United States
	Report

Stadio Comunale, Florence

Attendance: 34,857

Referee: Jamal Al Sharif (Syria)

United States 1994 FIFA World Cup

Group A final standings

Template:1994 FIFA World Cup Group A

Ranking of third-placed teams

Template:1994 FIFA World Cup 3rd place teams

Games

June 18, 1994

11:30 a.m. EDT

Group A

United States	1–1	Switzerland
	Report

Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac

Attendance: 73,425

Referee: Francisco Oscar Lamolina (Argentina)

June 22, 1994

7:30 p.m. PDT

Group A

United States	2–1	Colombia
	Report

Rose Bowl, Pasadena

Attendance: 93,869

Referee: Fabio Baldas (Italy)

June 26, 1994

4:00 p.m. PDT

Group A

United States	0–1	Romania
	Report

Rose Bowl, Pasadena

Attendance: 93,869

Referee: Mario van der Ende (Netherlands)

July 4, 1994

12:30 p.m. PDT

Round of 16

Brazil	1–0	United States
	Report

Stanford Stadium, Stanford

Attendance: 84,147

Referee: Joël Quiniou (France)

France 1998 FIFA World Cup

Group F final standings

Template:1998 FIFA World Cup Group F

Games

All times local (CEST/UTC+2)

June 15, 1998

9:00 p.m.

Group F

Germany	2–0	United States
	Report

Parc des Princes, Paris

Attendance: 45,500

Referee: Said Belqola (Morocco)

June 21, 1998

9:00 p.m.

Group F

United States	1–2	Iran
	Report

Stade de Gerland, Lyon

Attendance: 39,100

Referee: Urs Meier (Switzerland)

June 25, 1998

9:00 p.m.

Group F

United States	0–1	FR Yugoslavia
	Report

Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes

Attendance: 35,500

Referee: Gamal Al-Ghandour (Egypt)

South Korea-Japan 2002 FIFA World Cup

Group D final standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	South Korea (H)	3	2	1	0	4	1	+3	7	Advance to knockout stage
2	United States	3	1	1	1	5	6	−1	4	Advance to knockout stage
3	Portugal	3	1	0	2	6	4	+2	3
4	Poland	3	1	0	2	3	7	−4	3

Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Tie-breaking criteria
(H) Hosts

Games

All times local (UTC+9)

June 5, 2002

6:00 p.m.

Group D

United States	3–2	Portugal
	Report

Suwon World Cup Stadium, Suwon

Attendance: 37,306

Referee: Byron Moreno (Ecuador)

June 10, 2002

3:30 p.m.

Group D

South Korea	1–1	United States
	Report

Daegu World Cup Stadium, Daegu

Attendance: 60,778

Referee: Urs Meier (Switzerland)

June 14, 2002

8:30 p.m.

Group D

Poland	3–1	United States
	Report

Daejeon World Cup Stadium, Daejeon

Attendance: 26,482

Referee: Lu Jun (China)

June 17, 2002

3:30 p.m.

Round of 16

Mexico	0–2	United States
	Report

Jeonju World Cup Stadium, Jeonju

Attendance: 36,380

Referee: Vítor Melo Pereira (Portugal)

June 21, 2002

8:30 p.m.

QF

Germany	1–0	United States
	Report

Munsu Cup Stadium, Ulsan

Attendance: 37,337

Referee: Hugh Dallas (Scotland)

Germany 2006 FIFA World Cup

Group E final standings

Template:2006 FIFA World Cup Group E

Games

All times local (CEST/UTC+2)

June 12, 2006

6:00 p.m.

Group E

United States	0–3	Czech Republic
	Report

FIFA WM Stadion Gelsenkirchen, Gelsenkirchen

Attendance: 52,000

Referee: Carlos Amarilla (Paraguay)

June 17, 2006

9:00 p.m.

Group E

Italy	1–1	United States
	Report

Fritz-Walter-Stadion, Kaiserslautern

Attendance: 46,000

Referee: Jorge Larrionda (Uruguay)

June 22, 2006

4:00 p.m.

Group E

Ghana	2–1	United States
	Report

FIFA WM Stadion Nürnberg, Nuremberg

Attendance: 41,000

Referee: Markus Merk (Germany)

South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup

Group C final standings

Template:2010 FIFA World Cup Group C

Games

All times local (UTC+02)

June 12, 2010

8:30 p.m.

Group C

England	1–1	United States
	Report

Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg

Attendance: 38,646

Referee: Carlos Simon (Brazil)^[3]

June 18, 2010

4:00 p.m.

Group C

Slovenia	2–2	United States
	Report

Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg

Attendance: 45,573

Referee: Koman Coulibaly (Mali)^[4]

June 23, 2010

4:00 p.m.

Group C

United States	1–0	Algeria
	Report

Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria

Attendance: 35,827

Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)

June 26, 2010

8:30 p.m.

Round of 16

United States	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Ghana
	Report

Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg

Attendance: 34,976

Referee: Viktor Kassai (Hungary)

Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup

Group G final standings

Template:2014 FIFA World Cup Group G table

Games

June 16, 2014

7:00 p.m. UTC−3

Group G

Ghana	1–2	United States
	Report

Arena das Dunas, Natal

Attendance: 39,760

Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden)

June 22, 2014

6:00 p.m. UTC−4

Group G

United States	2–2	Portugal
	Report

Arena da Amazônia, Manaus

Attendance: 40,123

Referee: Néstor Pitana (Argentina)

June 26, 2014

1:00 p.m. UTC−3

Group G

United States	0–1	Germany
	Report

Arena Pernambuco, Recife

Attendance: 41,876

Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)

July 1, 2014

5:00 p.m. UTC−3

Round of 16

Belgium	2–1 (a.e.t.)	United States
	Report

Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador

Attendance: 51,227

Referee: Djamel Haimoudi (Algeria)

Record players

No.	Name	Matches	World Cups
1	Landon Donovan	12	2002, 2006 and 2010
2	Cobi Jones	11	1994, 1998 and 2002
	Earnie Stewart	11	1994, 1998 and 2002
	DaMarcus Beasley	11	2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014
5	Brian McBride	10	1998, 2002 and 2006
	Claudio Reyna	10	1998, 2002 and 2006
	Clint Dempsey	10	2006, 2010 and 2014
8	Tab Ramos	9	1990, 1994 and 1998
8	Eddie Pope	9	1998, 2002 and 2006
10	Marcelo Balboa	8	1990, 1994 and 1998
	Eric Wynalda	8	1990, 1994 and 1998
	Michael Bradley	8	2010 and 2014
	Tim Howard	8	2010 and 2014

Top goalscorers

Player	Goals	1930	1934	1950	1990	1994	1998	2002	2006	2010	2014
Landon Donovan	5							2		3
Bert Patenaude	4	4
Clint Dempsey	4								1	1	2
Brian McBride	3						1	2
Michael Bradley	1									1
Jim Brown	1	1
Paul Caligiuri	1				1
Aldo Donelli	1		1
Tom Florie	1	1
Joe Gaetjens	1			1
Julian Green	1										1
Joe Maca	1			1
Clint Mathis	1							1
Bart McGhee	1	1
Bruce Murray	1				1
John O'Brien	1							1
Gino Pariani	1			1
Earnie Stewart	1					1
Frank Wallace	1			1
Eric Wynalda	1					1
John Brooks	1										1
Jermaine Jones	1										1
Own goals	3					1		1	1
Total	37	7	1	4	2	3	1	7	2	5	5

Own goals scored for opponents

Jeff Agoos (scored for Portugal in 2002)

Notes

References

^ Helms, Andrew (July 1, 2014). "USA 3, Belgium 0! Or, Looking for Hope in the 1930 World Cup". The New Republic. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
^ 2006 FIFA World Cup TV Coverage Archived June 14, 2007, at the Wayback Machine (PDF), FIFA.com. Retrieved on June 6, 2007.
^ "Referee designations for matches 1-16" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. June 5, 2010. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 5, 2010. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
^ "Referee designations for matches 17-24" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. June 14, 2010. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 4, 2010. Retrieved June 15, 2010.

External links

FIFA World Cup official site

Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).

[1] Helms, Andrew (July 1, 2014). "USA 3, Belgium 0! Or, Looking for Hope in the 1930 World Cup". The New Republic. Retrieved July 22, 2015.

[2006coverage-2] 2006 FIFA World Cup TV Coverage Archived June 14, 2007, at the Wayback Machine (PDF), FIFA.com. Retrieved on June 6, 2007.

[referees_1-16-4] "Referee designations for matches 1-16" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. June 5, 2010. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 5, 2010. Retrieved June 5, 2010.

[referees_17-24-5] "Referee designations for matches 17-24" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. June 14, 2010. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 4, 2010. Retrieved June 15, 2010.

[1]

[2]

[note 1]

[3]

[4]

v t e United States men's national soccer team
General	United States Soccer Federation History Head coaches
Statistics	Records and statistics World Cup records Confederations Cup records Gold Cup records Copa América records Notable matches
Results	Summary 1916–49 1950–69 1970–89 1990–99 2000–09 2010–19 2020–29
Players	Players Captains Hat-tricks Born outside the United States
Goals	Clint Dempsey Landon Donovan
World Cup	1930 1934 1950 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2022 2026
Gold Cup	1985 1989 1991 1993 1996 1998 2000 2002 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 2021 2023
Nations League Finals	2021 2023 2024 2025
Copa América	1993 1995 2007 2016 2024
Summer Olympics	1924 1928 1936 1948 1952 1956 1972 1984 1988
Confederations Cup	1992 1999 2003 2009
Rivalries	Canada Mexico
Culture	The American Outlaws Sam's Army I believe that we will win! The Game of Their Lives Good Rivals
Lore	Miracle of Belo Horizonte The Shot Heard Round the World The Most Politically Charged Game in World Cup History Couva
Other teams	U23 U20 U19 U18 U17 U15 Arena Beach Futsal Paralympic

v t e Countries at the FIFA World Cup
Team appearances All-time table
AFC	Australia² China Indonesia¹ Iran Iraq Japan Kuwait North Korea Qatar Saudi Arabia South Korea United Arab Emirates
CAF	Algeria Angola Cameroon DR Congo¹ Egypt Ghana Ivory Coast Morocco Nigeria Senegal South Africa Togo Tunisia
CONCACAF	Canada Costa Rica Cuba El Salvador Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Panama Trinidad and Tobago United States
CONMEBOL	Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador Paraguay Peru Uruguay
OFC	New Zealand
UEFA	Austria Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Czech Republic¹ Denmark East Germany³ England France Germany¹ Greece Hungary Iceland Israel² Italy Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Russia¹ Scotland Serbia¹ Slovakia¹ Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales
¹ Considered a successor team by FIFA, or have competed under another name(s). ² Have been member of multiple confederations. ³ Team and national federation no longer exist.