United States at the FIFA World Cup

For the women's team, see United States at the FIFA Women's World Cup.

The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) have participated in eleven editions of the FIFA World Cup, an international soccer competition contested by men's national teams representing members of FIFA. The tournament is held every four years by the top qualifying teams from the continental confederations under FIFA. The United States is a member of CONCACAF, which governs the sport in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean, and has the second-most World Cup appearances from the confederation behind Mexico.[1]

The United States participated in the inaugural World Cup in 1930 and finished in the semifinals, which was later declared a third-place finish, their best result to date.[2] The tournament also featured the first hat-trick scored at a World Cup, awarded to American striker Bert Patenaude following recognition by FIFA in 2006.[3] After the 1950 World Cup, in which the United States upset England in group play 1–0, the U.S. was absent from the tournament until 1990. The United States participated in every World Cup from 1990 through 2014, but did not qualify in 2018, marking first time the team had missed a World Cup since 1986. They returned to the World Cup by qualifying for the 2022 edition.[4]

  1. ^ "Young U.S. team aiming to capture world's attention in Qatar". CONCACAF.com. November 9, 2022. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ Williams, Jack (July 19, 2015). "Bert Patenaude, the forgotten hero who scored the first ever World Cup hat-trick". The Guardian. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  4. ^ Goff, Steven (March 30, 2022). "The U.S. men's national soccer team qualifies for World Cup in Qatar". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 30, 2022.