Mini football figure - United States

Verenigde Staten

The United States national football team is the national football team of the United States.

History

The United States played its first unofficial international matches against Canada as early as 1885 and 1886. However, the first official match did not take place until 30 years later, on 20 August 1916 against Sweden. This was also the first ever match between two teams from different continents.

The best result in a World Cup was achieved by the USA in 1930, when they advanced to the semi-finals. Some British historians claim that the US team was peppered with players from England's professional leagues who were not native to the United States. The facts, however, argue against this theory.

Despite a 1-0 win over England, the team did not advance beyond the preliminary round in the 1950 World Cup and did not qualify for another World Cup until 1990. Although they did not score any points in that World Cup, they did manage to win the first CONCACAF Gold Cup, the North American equivalent of the European Football Championship, a year later.

In 1993, in the so-called U.S. Cup, the USA pulled off a sensation when they defeated England, the motherland of football, 2-0. In the same Cup, they lost 4-3 to Germany.

At the 1994 World Cup on home soil, the USA reached the last 16, where they narrowly lost 1-0 to eventual world champions Brazil. In the preliminary round, Eric Wynalda scored a remarkable free-kick goal against Switzerland (1-1), and Pelé's secret favourites Colombia were defeated 2-1.

At the 1998 World Cup in France, the USA played in a group with Germany and finished bottom of the group without a point. Many blamed coach Steve Sampson's defensive tactics for the poor performance, but mainly because he used the naturalised Frenchman David Régis in defence instead of the cult figure Alexi Lalas. Alexi Lalas criticised his coach before and during the 1998 World Cup and was proved right.

At the 2002 World Cup, a 20-year-old sonny boy named Landon Donovan played his way into the hearts of American fans. Portugal, one of the World Cup favourites, was defeated 3:2, against hosts and World Cup semi-finalists South Korea the US team managed a 1-1 draw, playing with the second team against Poland the team lost 1:3. In the round of 16, US President George W. Bush called and motivated the team against neighbouring Mexico. The USA won 2-0 and Landon Donovan scored his second World Cup goal. In the quarter-finals, the team met the German team again. The game was narrowly lost 1-0 to the eventual runners-up, making the USA one of the many surprises of the tournament.

In the following years, the USA national team won the CONCACAF Gold Cup three times (2002, 2005 and 2007). In 2003, the team finished third.

At the 2006 World Cup, the Americans were eliminated after the preliminary round with only one point. They managed a draw against the eventual world champions Italy. The goal for the USA was scored by the Italian Cristian Zaccardo with an own goal. Clint Dempsey was the only American to score a goal in the tournament. This came in a 2-1 loss to Ghana.

At the 2009 Confederations Cup, the US national football team reached the final of an intercontinental tournament for the first time in its history. In the semi-finals, they had defeated the previously undefeated European champions Spain 2-0. The final match against Brazil was lost 2:3, although the Americans even led 2:0 at one point. The prize money for second place was the equivalent of about 2.3 million euros.

The team reached the final of the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup shortly after the Confederations Cup. In the final on 26 July 2009 in front of 71,196 spectators at the Giants Stadium, they lost 5-0 to the Mexican national team.

In qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the USA qualified as the best CONCACAF team and won their group at the World Cup with draws against England and Slovenia, both of which came from behind, and a win over Algeria, secured in injury time by record goalscorer Landon Donovan. The team met Ghana in the last 16. There had only been one previous international match between the two teams, a 2-1 loss in the preliminary round of the World Cup on 22 June 2006. The 2010 round of 16 ended with the same result (after extra time).

In the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, they reached the final again, but lost again in front of 93,420 spectators at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena to the Mexicans, who managed to turn the game around and win 4-2 despite leading 2-0.

The US Americans did better two years later. They reached the final again at the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup. In front of 57,920 spectators at Soldier Field in Chicago, they beat Panama 1-0 to win the title for the fifth time.

On 10 September 2013, the US team qualified early for the 2014 World Cup. On 6 December 2013, the US national team was drawn against Ghana, Portugal and Germany. On 16 June 2014, Jürgen Klinsmann's team won 2-1 against Ghana in their opener after Clint Dempsey gave the team a 1-0 lead seconds after kick-off and John Anthony Brooks scored a header in the 86th minute to win 2-1 after Ghana equalised. In their second group match, they trailed Portugal 1-0 after just five minutes through a Nani goal before Jermaine Jones and Dempsey turned the game in their favour, only to see the Portuguese equalise through Silvestre Varela in the dying seconds of stoppage time. In the run-up to the decisive group match against Germany, a draw would have been enough for both teams, who were level on points at the top of the table, bringing back memories of the non-aggression pact in Gijón. The United States lost 1-0 to Germany, but still celebrated advancing because, although Portugal beat Ghana 2-1 at the same time, the Americans had the better goal difference. In the round of 16, the United States was eliminated by Belgium (1:2).