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World Cup Stories: The States embrace a new era of soccer at USA 94
With 99 days left until the 2026 World Cup kicks off, DAZN News begins its World Cup stories countdown with a look back at tournaments of the past.
This summer's football festivities will be co-hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico, so what better place to start than the last time the States hosted football's showpiece, USA 94.
Back then, Donald Trump was just an entrepreneur making cameos in Home Alone, and the US was about to embark on his newest love affair with all things 'soccer'.
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Soccer goes Stateside
The US were awarded football's grandest stage in 1988, beating off competition from Brazil and Morocco to host the tournament, as FIFA sought to expand its premier competition into a new global market.
There were complaints at the time about awarding the finals to a country without a domestic league and one in which the game was traditionally not as popular as the leading sports in the country.
However, FIFA voted to give the tournament to America on the proviso that a new league would be implemented, with the MLS created in 1993, and thus beginning a true identity for football in the US.
The tournament kicked off on June 17 1994, with an opening ceremony plastered in old glory and remembered best for pop diva Diana Ross taking the worst penalty of all time as part of the pomp and circumstance.
24 teams qualified, including debuts for Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Greece, but for UK interest, no home nation competed at the tournament. England, memorably, failed to qualify following a disastrous campaign under Graham Taylor.
The moments that mattered
With no team from any of the home nations, the Republic of Ireland became everyone's chosen nation, and Jack Charlton's boys didn't disappoint.
Despite melting in the heat of Orlando, the Irish pulled off one of their most famous victories in their opening game. Ray Houghton netted the winning goal as they beat heavily-fancied Italy inside Giants Stadium on route to a knockout finish at the hands of the Netherlands.
Diego Maradona once again made the headlines, scoring a hallmark goal against Greece before being booted from the competition after failing a drug test by testing positive for ephedrine.
The hosts, shining in their denim kits, made it through to the knockouts before losing to Brazil, but their win over Colombia was marred by tragedy when defender Andres Escobar was killed following the finals after scoring an own goal to help the USA get the victory.
There were standout performances from Sweden, who finished third, and Bulgaria, who knocked out holders Germany on their way to placing fourth. Saudi Arabia etched their name in tournament folklore with a goal from Saeed Al-Owairan that has lived long in the memory, and Nigeria impressed on their World Cup bow.
With packed out stadiums, a mascot in the mould of Walt Disney and a star-studded playing field, it was just the World Cup the USA needed to engage the country in the sport once again.
The stars of the finals
It's arguable that the 94 finals featured some of the era's peak players, as everywhere you looked, there were established world-class names.
If number 10s is your thing, Roberto Baggio was strutting his stuff as one of Europe's elite names, but was also joined in the states by Gheorghe Hagi of Romania, Bulgaria's Hristo Stoichkov and the emerging Dennis Bergkamp.
Germany still had its core team that had won the World Cup four years earlier and still boasted Lothar Matthäus and Jurgen Klinsmann, while Sweden's new poster boy, Thomas Brolin, announced his arrival on the global stage.
The Golden Boot went to Russia's Oleg Salenko, who scored five in one game against Cameroon and jointly won the award with Stoichkov on six goals.
However, it was the lethal partnership of Romario and Bebeto that lit up the World Cup, netting eight goals between them as they led Brazil to the final.
Their baby rocking celebration in the win over the Netherlands - the game of the tournament - is one of the enduring images of events in the States. Getty
The final
Held at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, it saw 94,000 fans attend the tournament's final. Unfortunately, it's seen as one of USA 94's biggest disappointments.
Brazil and Italy played out the only World Cup final to end in a goalless draw, in a game bereft of chances or the entertainment we'd seen from both sides in the previous weeks.
In the end, the game went to penalties, where in one of the most iconic images in World Cup history, Italy's talisman Baggio missed the deciding spot-kick to hand the trophy to the Brazilians for a third time.
Getty
The legacy
No World Cup has impacted a country more than the 1994 edition did for the US.
The birth of the MLS the year prior laid the groundworks for a new era in the sport, and the tournament propelled interest in the sport to the point that the league quickly went from strength to strength.
Indeed, without USA '94 there’s no way America would have seen the likes of David Beckham, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lionel Messi grace the MLS as it continued to grow - and still does.
For US players, too, the finals were an eye-opener for a new generation, which is why we now see US stars compete in Europe's elite leagues.
It was a tournament remembered for a slice of Americana football never knew it needed, fuelled with colour, controversy and star names that left a lasting legacy in the good ol' U S of A.
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