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Thirty-two years ago, many fans in the global soccer community saw that the United States was planning to host its first FIFA World Cup in 1994 and asked a collective question: Because?
At the time, the United States men’s national team was a largely anonymous team of unknown players wearing now-nostalgic denim uniforms.
In the United States, soccer did not have the same popularity as other sports such as American football or baseball. But then the tournament began.
To remember the summer of 1994, the members of that team (Alexi Lalas, Cobi Jones, John Harkes and Marcelo Balboa) met to take a trip to the past and tell about the tournament that changed the sport in the United States.
Bora and the training ground
Alexi Lalas and United States coach Bora Milutinovic before a friendly match against England in 1994 (Getty Images)
The architect of the American transformation of 1994 was Bora Milutinović. The enigmatic coach arrived with a storied World Cup pedigree, having guided Costa Rica and Mexico to the round of 16 and quarterfinals, respectively.
Milutinović’s specialty was inspiring underdogs to play above their weight class, but his methods frustrated a young Lalas.
“Bora, an incredibly intelligent man… spoke five languages, none of them well, and will remain for me as… the most frustrating coach I have ever had in my life, but also the coach who gave me the opportunity that changed my life,” Lalas.
For the players, Bora was not the most popular person in the locker room, as his experience was met with resistance at first, until the team won its first major international tournament title in the 1991 Gold Cup.
“I hated it and I’ll tell you why, because he put me in as a translator. Nothing like being on a team and you’re the player translating the coach’s new message. That was horrible,” Balboa said. “But as time went on, I understood what Bora wanted, and I think we all believed it when we went to the ’91 Gold Cup, and suddenly we started winning games, we beat Mexico and we won the Gold Cup.
“I don’t think many of us were convinced until that tournament. Once we won that tournament, we thought: Shit, here we go.“
The moment of the ‘miracle on ice’
Alexi Lalas celebrates the World Cup group stage victory over Colombia in 1994. (Photo by Mark Leech/Getty Images)
When the tournament arrived, the United States was still seen as a naive country. But after earning a draw against Switzerland, the Americans faced tournament favorite Colombia in front of a raucous crowd at the Rose Bowl. What followed was a historic upset that became America’s soccer equivalent of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice.”
“The final whistle blows, all hell breaks loose in the most positive way… I remember in 1980 when the United States hockey team, Jim Craig, with a flag around him, and I wanted that moment to celebrate my country,” Lalas said. “Everyone thought we would lose to Colombia, right?”
The 2-1 victory was all the more astonishing because of the humble realities of the squad. The United States didn’t even have a national professional league at the time.
“When you talk about… ‘iconic victories,’ ‘the best victory in history.’ You look at that team with six guys, they didn’t have a club team, we trained every day,” Balboa said.
“Cobi and I never played for a club and our entire experience was international,” Lalas added.
Brazil breaks the hearts of the United States
Thomas Dooley of the United States and Mazinho of Brazil face off during a 1994 World Cup match. (Photo by Stewart Kendall/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)
The dream run finally collided with world power Brazil in the round of 16 on July 4. The match reached a violent turning point when American playmaker Tab Ramos was hospitalized after a brutal elbow from Brazilian Leonardo. Although Leonardo received a red card, the loss of Ramos shattered the American midfield.
“Just devastating, scared beyond belief, the way he landed,” Harkes said. “I cared about Tab. I didn’t care about the game at that time.”
The loss of Ramos not only affected the United States and its players emotionally, but also tactically.
“Not only did we lose a player, Tab, who left the field, but from a practical perspective, we lost the guy who could hold the ball for us,” Lalas said.
Even with 10 men, the future world champions continued to create scoring opportunities.
In the 72nd minute, Brazilian striker Bebeto finally broke the deadlock, firing an accurate shot through the smallest of windows.
“What bothers me about this goal is that I have the tackle… The problem is that I get to it and overtake it, and it ends up going in the only possible place through my legs and into the far corner,” Lalas said. “This little wizard here, Bebeto, scores the goal they need to go through and for all intents and purposes, our World Cup is over.”
Looking ahead this summer
Can the 2026 team build on the legacy of the 1994 pioneers? (Photo by Shaun Clark/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
More than three decades after the generation of ’94 laid the foundations, the World Cup returns to North American soil.
For America’s current generation, the tournament represents a huge launching pad to eclipse the history written by their predecessors.
“I think this team can go far. I think this team can go further than 2002,” Harkes said. I hope we get to a semi-final, or even beyond. Why not? Why not us? We believe in that.”
As the pressure and expectations mount for the modern team, the pioneers of ’94 remind them that changing the sport forever requires a bit of audacity.
“You have to have dreamers,” said Alexi Lalas.
FIFA World Cup 2026: How to watch
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will take place from June 11 to July 19, 2026. Spread across three countries, the tournament will culminate with the final on July 19 at the New York New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. All 104 matches of the tournament will be broadcast live on FOX (70) and FS1 (34) and each match will be streamed live and on-demand on both FOX One and the FOX Sports app. A record 40 matches, more than a third of the tournament, will be broadcast in prime time on FOX (21) and FS1 (19).
The June 11 opening match between Mexico and South Africa (3 p.m. ET) will be streamed for free on Tubi, as will the United States’ opening match against Paraguay on June 12 (9 p.m. ET).
