The United States men's national soccer team, often referred to as the USMNT, represents the United States of America in international association football (soccer) competitions. It is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football). The team is ranked 27th in the world according to the FIFA World Rankings, and 26th in the World Football Elo Ratings. They have appeared in the last six FIFA World Cups and hosted the 1994 edition.
The men's national team competes in the FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Confederations Cup, in addition to the CONCACAF Gold Cup and other competitions by invitation. They achieved a CONCACAF-best when they reached the Semi-final in the 1930 World Cup, finishing 3rd. After qualifying for the 1934 World Cup, and withdrawing in 1938, the next World Cup participation came in the 1950 tournament, causing an upset by beating England 1–0 in their second group match. After 1950, the USA didn't qualify for the World Cup again until 1990.
After the 1990 World Cup, the USA qualified automatically as hosts in the 1994 World Cup, losing to Brazil in the round of sixteen. From then on, the team has qualified for every World Cup since, up to and including the 2010 World Cup. The national team has improved in international level, reaching the finals of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, eliminating top ranked Spain in the semi-finals and narrowly losing to two time champion Brazil 3–2.
Read more about United States Men's National Soccer Team: International Rivalries, Schedule and Recent Results, Coaching Staff, Head Coaches
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“In the United States the whites speak well of the Blacks but think bad about them, whereas the Blacks talk bad and think bad about the whites. Whites fear Blacks, because they have a bad conscience, and Blacks hate whites because they need not have a bad conscience.”
—Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)
“I thought it altogether proper that I should take a brief furlough from official duties at Washington to mingle with you here to-day as a comrade, because every President of the United States must realize that the strength of the Government, its defence in war, the army that is to muster under its banner when our Nation is assailed, is to be found here in the masses of our people.”
—Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)
“In the case of a deliberate, palpable, and dangerous exercise of ... powers not granted by the compact, the States ... are in duty bound to interpose for arresting the progress of the evil, and for maintaining within their respective limits the authorities, rights, and liberties appertaining to them.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)
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—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“If we were doing this in the Falklands they would love it. It’s part of our heritage. The British have always been fighting wars.”
—British soccer fan. quoted in Independent (London, Dec. 23, 1988)
“I also heard the whooping of the ice in the pond, my great bed-fellow in that part of Concord, as if it were restless in its bed and would fain turn over, were troubled with flatulency and bad dreams; or I was waked by the cracking of the ground by the frost, as if some one had driven a team against my door, and in the morning would find a crack in the earth a quarter of a mile long and a third of an inch wide.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)