92 days to the World Cup: The USMNT is still chasing another deep run
· Yahoo Sports
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The U.S. men's national team will take part in its 11th World Cup this summer. Since returning to the tournament in 1990, the Americans have become regular participants, missing only one edition after failing to qualify for Russia 2018.
But deep runs have been rare.
In its history, the USMNT got off to a strong start at the World Cup, finishing in third place in the 12-team debut tournament in 1930 in Uruguay. Back then, only the four group winners advanced to the semifinals. The U.S. won its group shutting out Belgium and Paraguay before falling to Argentina in the semifinals.
That early success didn’t lead to sustained momentum. The USMNT would take part in two more World Cups — 1934 and 1950 — before beginning a four-decade drought until a return for Italy 1990.
Since 1990, the Americans have advanced out of the group stage five times, including a quarterfinal run in 2002. Overall, the U.S. is 9-8-20 in 37 World Cup matches.
Most recently at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, the USMNT went 1-2-0 in group play before being knocked out by the Netherlands in the Round of 16.
Now with the tournament returning to home soil in 2026, the next step for Team USA is clear: turn another knockout appearance into something more.
