The United States’ rich sports history was often absent of a national men’s soccer team that anybody cared about. During the early years of the World Cup, the United States fielded strong teams primarily filled with immigrants from other nations. However, that early interest faded as the children of those players generally Americanized and pursued other sports or avenues of interest.

Being able to find betting information and results on the U.S. men’s team’s attempts to qualify for the 2022 World Cup is easy for anyone with smartphone access and a passing interest in the sport. However, people were so unenthused by American soccer that in 1950 when the United States upset England in the World Cup, some newspapers thought there had been an error and reported the score like England won. 

Here’s a look at the dark days of the program, and why it suffered, between the upset of England and the United States’ return to the World Cup in 1990.

Making the World Cup Used to be Harder

Part of the United States’ issues qualifying for the World Cup following 1950 was the limited number of teams. Only one team from the United States’ soccer confederation, CONCACAF, was allowed to qualify for the World Cup until 1982. Because the U.S. Soccer Federation was essentially a part-time organization, it lacked the funding to compete with more soccer-crazed countries like Mexico and Honduras.

Many Americans lacking familiarity with the sport also prevented the organization from generating more fan interest.

Soccer Can Just Be a Part-Time Thing, Right?

The North American Soccer League was the first major soccer league in the United States and lasted from 1968 to 1984. There had been soccer leagues before the NASL, which had its own problems within the soccer community for Americanizing the game, but they were mostly made up of semi-pro players. Those players had a hard time competing in international competitions full of rosters of professional players.

The NASL’s problem ultimately became that it wasn’t a good proving ground for American players. With a number of top foreign players lured to the league with high salaries, it was difficult for American players to find playing time. The NASL attempted to form a Team America as a team in the league for the 1983 season.

The idea was to have a professional version of the national team. But the idea was not well received and the top American players who competed overseas didn’t want to leave their club teams to play. The experiment lasted one year and the team finished 10-20 and in last place.

World Cup Won’t Come Here

A good way for the United States to generate interest in the sport would have been to host the tournament. The country has a number of large venues that would have been easily converted to soccer fields. However, lacking a top-division men’s soccer league held the United States back.

The United States wouldn’t host a World Cup until 1994, after the promise to create what became Major League Soccer, which played its first season in 1996.

Putting Team in a Spot to Fail

Finally, in 1986, the United States appeared on track to make a serious run at qualifying. Entering the last game of CONCACAF qualifying, the United States needed a tie or a win against Costa Rica to reach the final qualifying group against Honduras and Canada. Another spot was open for CONCACAF thanks to Mexico being chosen as hosts of the tournament.

In a bizarre move, U.S. Soccer chose to hold the game in Torrance, Calif., which had a high population of people with ties to Costa Rica. Once choosing a location, the federation also promoted the game with a bend toward Costa Rican fans, helping turn the environment more hostile despite being on home soil. The United States would be shut out and have to wait another four years before heading back to the World Cup.

OK, Fine, We’ll Pay You

The U.S. soccer federation first began offering players full-time contracts in August of 1988. Free from the financial burden of having to work other work in addition to training, the U.S. was able to provide security to players. The Americans qualified for the 1990 World Cup when Paul Caligiuri scored in a 1-0 victory over Costa Rica to end the 40-year drought.