United States

The United States men's national soccer team, nicknamed the Stars and Stripes, competes under CONCACAF and is one of the founding forces of world football — reaching third place at the inaugural 1930 World Cup — while developing into a dominant regional power with seven Gold Cups and three CONCACAF Nations League titles. Under coach Mauricio Pochettino, the USMNT heads into a landmark home World Cup in 2026 buoyed by one of its most talented generations.

American football traces its organised roots to the late 19th century, with the USSF forming in 1913. The team made an immediate mark at the very first World Cup in 1930, finishing third, and pulled off arguably the biggest upset of the early era when they defeated England 1–0 at the 1950 tournament in Brazil. For most of the following four decades, however, the national team struggled for consistent results, failing to qualify for the World Cup between 1954 and 1990.

The decision to host the 1994 World Cup acted as a catalyst for the domestic game, spurring the creation of Major League Soccer in 1996. The USMNT qualified for five consecutive tournaments from 1994 to 2014, advancing to the round of 16 in 2002 after a memorable run that included defeating Mexico and Portugal. The 2009 Confederations Cup run — where they famously beat Spain before finishing as runners-up to Brazil — highlighted the team's growing ambitions on the global stage.

The late 2010s brought a painful low, with the team failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, but a remarkable rebuild followed. A generation of talented players — many starring at top European clubs — powered the USMNT to CONCACAF Nations League titles in 2021, 2023, and 2024, along with a 2021 Gold Cup. With the 2026 World Cup being co-hosted on home soil across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, expectations are higher than at any point in the program's history.