After success in 1994 World Cup, USMNT looks to to do the same

IRVINE, Calif. – A lot can change in 32 years.

Since 1994, the United States has had five different presidents, the New England Patriots won six Super Bowls and the Internet was just about to take off.

The U.S. soccer landscape changed as well.

Thursday marked 32 years since the U.S. Men’s National Team played its opening game of the 1994 World Cup on home soil, fighting to a 1-1 draw against Switzerland to secure its first World Cup point since 1950. Since then, U.S. soccer has seen huge changes to its structure, domestic leagues and national team.

As the country hosts its first World Cup since that 1994 edition – and meets Australia in its second match of the tournament Friday – it’s another opportunity to measure how far the sport has come. The USMNT drew over 18 million viewers on FOX in its opening 4-1 win against Paraguay, making it the most-streamed English-language USMNT World Cup match in history.

Fifteen players on the 1994 roster didn’t have professional contracts entering the tournament. Now? Thirteen of the 26-man roster play in Europe’s top five leagues (Premier League, Ligue 1, La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga).

It’s a monumental shift from just over 30 years ago.

“We needed to build a team,” said Alan Rothenberg, the former U.S. soccer president from 1990 to 1998. “Since our players couldn’t get jobs abroad, we created a 16-month residency camp in Mission Viejo and played a ton of friendly matches so the team would get ready.”

It’s a night and day comparison when it comes to soccer infrastructure. In 2026, the federation opened the Arthur M. Blank U.S. Soccer National Training Center near Atlanta. The near $200 million training facility will now operate as the main base for the national team, something which is common for top nations in the world.

“It’s going to let us do what France has done, what Spain has done,” Rothenberg said. “Our players are always going back to the same place so even when they scatter, they know each other, they play together, and we’ll develop, I think, an American style.”

And those are just some of the noticeable changes since 1994.

Two years after the 1994 World Cup, Rothenberg and others launched Major League Soccer, America’s newest top tier of professional soccer. Though it had some difficulties in the early beginnings – nearly going bankrupt in 2001 – MLS rebounded and now has seven franchises in the top 30 most valuable soccer clubs in the world, according to Forbes.

MLS also put in place the foundations for youth development. Current USMNT players such as Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, Ricardo Pepi, Giovanni Reyna and others played for MLS academies before signing professionally in Europe. The academies, which compete in the highest level of youth soccer in the country (MLS NEXT), offer a direct pathway for development into the professional game and the national team.

“The players today are much better than the players back then,” said L.A. Times soccer reporter Kevin Baxter, who has covered eight World Cups. “They’re more skilled, they understand the game better, they’ve experienced things that players back then didn’t.”

In the United States’ last World Cup appearance, the team secured a goalless draw with England and defeated Iran to advance out of Group B, which ultimately ended with a round of 16 defeat. But without any particular iconic moments – excluding Christian Pulisic’s sole goal in the win against Iran – Baxter said it was hard to sell it as a major success to the casual fan.

In past World Cups, the U.S. captured the imagination of the nation with unforgettable moments, such as Landon Donovan’s stoppage time winner against Algeria in 2010, Jermaine Jones’ super strike against Portugal in 2014 or Tim Howard’s record 16 saves in the round of 16.

This poses a big challenge for the national team this time. To have a lasting legacy on the casual fan, Mauricio Pochettino’s side will likely need to do something more that hasn’t been done.

“Something in the knockout round where they beat an accomplished team or play well against an accomplished team,” Baxter said on what will hook the casual fan. “At least one moment of brilliance, at least one kind of Landon Donovan versus Algeria goal that plays over and over again on social media.”

It’s a golden opportunity for players to showcase the team in a home World Cup.

“When you dream of this as a kid, you dream of moments like this,” USMNT midfielder Cristian Roldan said. “So I’m soaking it all in.”

Having already put on a show in their opener, the Stars and Stripes would secure top spot in Group D with a victory against Australia in addition to Turkey failing to win. 

This tournament feels like three decades in the making, which the team looks to seize the moment 32 years on from its famous point against Switzerland.

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