The United States men's national soccer team represents the United States in international association football competition and is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation. Though soccer has not traditionally had a high profile in American sporting life, the sport has steadily grown in popularity since the 1970s. The team is, according to the FIFA World Rankings, ranked 14th in the world and first in CONCACAF, has appeared in the last five FIFA World Cups, and will appear in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
In 1885, the United States and Canada played the first international match held outside the United Kingdom. Canada defeated the U.S. 1–0 in Newark, New Jersey, The United States had its revenge the following year when it beat Canada 1–0, also in Newark. Thirty years later, the United States played its first official international match under the auspices of U.S. Soccer against Sweden in Stockholm, where the USA won 3-2.
The U.S. earned both silver and bronze medals in men's soccer at the 1904 Summer Olympicsheld in St. Louis, Missouri. The tournament only featured three teams: Galt F.C. from Canada and Christian Brothers College and St. Rose Parish from the United States. Galt defeated both American teams to win the gold. Christian Brothers defeated St. Rose in a third match after two scoreless draws.
In the 1930 World Cup, the U.S. won its 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 Ramon Gonzales.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 it's also the highest finish of any team from outside of CONMEBOL and UEFA, the South American and European confederations, respectively.
Due to FIFA not wanting interference with the newly founded FIFA World Cup no official tournament was fielded in the 1932 Olympic Games. FIFA claimed the tournament would not be popular in the United States, so it would not be cost efficient to assist in the running of the tournament during struggling economic times. As a result, an informal tournament was organized including local rivals with the United States finishing first, followed by Mexico and Canada. The Olympic Tournament was reinstated in the 1936 Olympic Games.
Post WWII
In the 1950 World Cup, the United States lost its 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 reference to the Miracle on Ice. The older Independência Stadium, in the city of Belo Horizonte, hosted this legendary victory. At least, a defeat to Chile by a 5–2 margin 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.
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..
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