ENERGEIA

United States World Cup Results, All Time

1930 World Cup

1930 Group 4 Table

1930 Semi Finals

7 US Goals: Bert Patenaude (4), Bart McGhee (2), Jim Brown
Starting GK: Jimmy Douglas
Finish: Semi Finalists
Comment: Only 13 countries participated, but the US did top their group that included Paraguay and Belgium, which meant they went straight into the semi finals, where they were beaten by Argentina 6-1.

1934 World Cup
(No group play, it was a straight knock-out tournament in 1934)

1934 First Round

1 US Goal: Aldo Donelli
Starting GK: Julius Hjulian
Finish: Out in the first round
Comment: Maybe the story of this tournament is that the final place in the World Cup was contested between the US and Mexico only three days before the start of the tournament in a one-off match in Rome, won by the United States. See? Soccer was our game first. Deep inside I always knew that.

1938 – The US did not participate
1942 – No World Cup due to WWII
1946 – No World Cup due to WWII

1950 World Cup

1950 Group 2 Table

4 US Goals: Joe Gaetjens, Gino Pariani, Frank Wallace, Joe Maca
Starting GK: Frank Borghi
Finish: Bottom of our group, but not the worst in the tournament, the dubious honor going to Mexico.
Comment: Known in the US as the World Cup where Joe Gaetjens scored the match winner in the 1-0 victory over mighty England. A representation of this game is depicted in the 2005 movie The Game of Their Lives.

1954 – 1986 – The US did not qualify for the World Cup, which all changed for 1990 thanks to Paul Caligiuri’s clinching goal vs. Trinidad and Tobago in 1989.

1990 World Cup

1990 Group A Table

2 US goals: Paul Caligiuri, Bruce Murray
Starting GK: Tony Meola
Finish: Last place out of 32 teams
Comment: It was a miracle that the US even qualified for the World Cup, thanks to an amazing volley by Paul Caligiuri (seen HERE). We were not ready for the world cup at this point, but tried our best.

1994 World Cup

1994 Group A Table

1994 Round of 16

3 US Goals: Eric Wynalda, Ernie Stewart; the other US goal was an own goal by Andres Escobar of Columbia
Starting GK: Tony Meola
Finish: 3rd in Group but advanced to knock-out stage, where we lost to eventual champions Brazil 1-0
Comment: The host nation always seems to perform better on home soil. In a tournament with only 24 teams, some of the 3rd place teams could advance out of the Group Stage to make the final 16. Luckily for us, but unluckily for him, Andres Escobar’s own goal sealed our fate and his own. This was a brave performance by a US team that was starting to learn more about international soccer.

1998 World Cup

1998 Group F Table

1 US Goal: Brian McBride
Starting GK: Kasey Keller (2 games) Brad Friedel (1 game)
Finish: Last place out of the 32 teams
Comment: With the internal fighting going on in the team (seen HERE), there’s no wonder the US crashed out of this World Cup with one goal scored and 3 losses.

2002 World Cup

2002 Group D Table

2002 Round of 16

2002 Quarterfinal

7 US Goals: Brian McBride (2), Landon Donovan (2), John O’Brien, Clint Mathis; the other was an own goal by Jorge Costa of Portugal
Starting GK: Brad Friedel
Finish: Quarterfinalists; lost to eventual Finalists Germany
Comment: Great performance by the USA. Brad Friedel was the man of the tournament for the USA, making sure we qualified out of the Group Stage. He is still the only goal keeper to save 2 penalty kicks in the same World Cup. Yes he was that dominant. The USA could have actually been Semi Finalists this year. Germany kept out a game-tying goal with a handball that was never called. And who can forget knocking rival Mexico out of the World Cup?

2006 World Cup

2006 Group E Table

2 US Goals: Clint Dempsey; the other was an own goal by Christian Zaccardo of Italy
Starting GK: Kasey Keller
Finish: Last place out of the 32 teams
Comment: The USA was actually better than this finish shows. We were horrible against the Czech Republic, but had to battle the Referee as well as Italy in our second game. Kasey Keller made a miraculous save from point blank range to deny Del Piero a winning goal. We also had a clear penalty denied to win the Italy game late on. Against Ghana we were unlucky to give up a highly debated (LINK) penalty kick for their winner, and we hit the post numerous times in search of the equalizer. We just didn’t have the rub of the green.

2010 World Cup

2010 Group C Table

2010 Round of 16

5 US Goals: Landon Donovan (3), Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley
Starting GK: Tim Howard
Finish: Won Group C, but lost to Ghana 2-1 in Round of 16
Comment: The USA went from being out of the World Cup to winning Group C with Landon Donovan’s game winner vs. Algeria in the final group game. Ghana knocked out the US in the Round of 16, the same team that knocked us out of World Cup 2006 in Germany in the final game of the group stage. This US team will be remembered for starting poorly and going behind early in almost every game. In 3 of the 4 games, the US gave up an early goal and had to dig themselves out. Everyone knew it wouldn’t last, and a very good Ghanaian side made us pay.

Total US World Cup Goals all time: 32 (minus three own goals) leaves 29:
5 – Landon Donovan

4 – Bert Patenaude
3 – Brian McBride
2 – Clint Dempsey, Bart McGhee
1 – Paul Caligiuri, Bruce Murray, Eric Wynalda, Ernie Stewart, John O’Brien, Clint Mathis, Michael Bradley, Jim Brown, Aldo Donelli, Joe Gaetjens, Gino Pariani, Frank Wallace, Joe Maca