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After having a week to recuperate from another early exit at the World Cup, I thought it was best to take a glance in the past to discover when the United States seemed to be competitive at this worldwide event.
It goes without saying that despite the fact that the United States surprised many people when they advanced out of their group stage for the round of 16 at the end of the day, it’s just another disappointing turnout. However, if questioning as to when the United States had their best finish at the World Cup, well look no further than nearly a century ago.
It was in 1930, when the United States had advanced to the semifinals at the first ever World Cup. It’s important to note that the event back then was formatted entirely different than that of today. The World Cup had consisted of only 13 teams at the time in comparison to the 32 of today. The United States had advanced past the group stage beating both Belgium and Paraguay at the time before ultimately falling short to Argentina, setting the tone of what was to come throughout the century.
The second best finish for the nation came back in 2002 when they had advanced to the quarterfinals before following a similar fate that all other U.S. World Cup teams had experienced. After advancing past Mexico (2-0) the United States were dealt another loss against Germany (1-0) in the next round. Since 2002, the United States have only advanced to the Round of 16 a total of 3 times. As of now, we could only beg the question of whether the United States will change what seems to be their predetermined destiny in the 2026 World Cup in North America.
For more sports coverage from MLB, NBA, NFL, to NCAA contact Julian Ojeda at 786-501-9082 or via email julian@communitynewspapers.com
