USA Succer Team

USA Succer

The United States men's national soccer team represents the United States in international soccer competition and is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation.

The team is, according to the FIFA World Rankings, ranked 18th in the world and first in CONCACAF, and is also ranked 24th in the World Football ELO Ratings. It has appeared in the last six FIFA World Cups, and hosted the 1994 edition.

The team's best finish in the FIFA World Cup came in the inaugural 1930 tournament where it finished third. More recently, it finished fourth in the 1995 Copa América, reached the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup, and took second place in the 2009 Confederations Cup. The United States has won the CONCACAF Gold Cup four times in ten tournaments, one short of Mexico's five. U.S soccer teams also took silver and bronze in the 1904 Olympic Games.

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. Until the 1990s, the United States national team were regarded as one of the world's weaker teams. Highlights before the latter stages of the 20th Century, were firstly finishing third in the first ever World Cup held in 1930. 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 fourth group match. After 1950, the USA never qualified 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, with the best performance before 2010 being to reach the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup, losing to Germany. On the regional stage, the national team has also improved, with a record up to 2009 of reaching the final of the biannual CONCACAF Gold Cup eight times since 1989, winning it four times, in 1991, 2002, 2005, and 2007. As 2007 CONCACAF winners, they also progressed to the final of the 2009 edition of the FIFA Confederations Cup, narrowly losing in the final 3-2 to five times World Champions Brazil.