‘We were terrible': 1994 U.S. World Cup team has advice for today's Americans
Those aging Generation Xers are the only ones who can begin to understand what this band of Generation Z players who also wear the U.S. crest are facing, hosting the world's biggest sporting event on home soil, trying to ignite the American public's enthusiasm over their national soccer team.
And that's about where the similarities end.
"It's not easy, playing in a World Cup at home," said Marcelo Balboa, who appeared in three World Cups, including 1994. "It's pressure. It's very difficult.
"But we were a bunch of college kids. We had all played in the 1990 World Cup but then, afterwards, we didn't even have a club to play for."
That's a far cry from today's team: These players are all professionals. The majority ply their trade in Europe, many for top clubs. The others play in Major League Soccer, the league that was born from the 1994 World Cup and is now thriving, even home to the most famous player in the world, Lionel Messi.
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The United States was awarded the 1994 World Cup in 1988. Buoyed by that looming spotlight - and helped by Mexico being banned - the U.S. team qualified for the 1990 World Cup, its first appearance in the tournament in 40 years. But the three games, all losses, that they played in Italy were an unmitigated disaster. There was so much work to be done.
Without clubs to play for, U.S. Soccer basically held a two-year training camp. It hired soccer mercenary Bora Milutinovic, a Serbian coaching genius who had success in previous World Cups with both Mexico and Costa Rica.
"We hired Bora because we didn't know what the f- we were doing," said Eric Wynalda, also a member of three World Cup teams. "We were terrible. The first thing he told us was, ‘There are two things you need in F1. You need a good driver and you need a fantastic car.'
"He told us, ‘I am a very good driver but I have a very bad car.'"
He set about building a defense-first team, and building his players' emotional resiliency and on-field skills.
"He manipulated our minds," Wynalda said. "He made it clear, ‘You need me to teach you this, because you don't know and I do.' And we all bought in because we were new to it. So let's listen to the guy who speaks five languages, unfortunately all at the same time."
Nobody knew what they were doing, and that included most of the American media experiencing a World Cup for the first time. A young member of my former paper's staff, I volunteered to cover the tournament because I knew just enough to know what a big deal it was. Few of my colleagues were even interested.
That 1994 team is remembered for a couple of things. The hideous faux denim uniforms that can take you back to 1994 faster than you can say Hakuna Matata. The O.J. Simpson white Bronco chase that took place on the eve of the Americans' first game. Like the rest of us, the players were transfixed as they sat in their hotel rooms in Michigan thinking about the opener against Switzerland. The Simpson drama dominated the World Cup news cycle.
That team also birthed Alexi Lalas, a middling player whom Milutinovic turned into a fundamental piece of his team and whom the media, searching for a face in this band of unknowns, turned into a star. (As someone who contributed, apologies.) Lalas played the guitar! He had long hair and a red goatee! He spoke his mind! He has been an omnipresent face of American soccer ever since, loudly dominating coverage.
The Americans tied Switzerland in the opener thanks to a beautiful free kick from Wynalda, who had hives and was jacked up on Benadryl. They shockingly beat Colombia at the Rose Bowl, thanks to a Colombia own-goal, putting them through to the second round.
On July 4 at Stanford Stadium, in front of more than 87,000 fans, the U.S. team took on the best team in the world, Brazil. Brazil had become the Bay Area's adopted team, based in Los Gatos and turning the quiet town into a nonstop drumming and dancing party that lasted late into every night. The game was expected to be a slaughter.
Instead, the Americans held their own before losing to the eventual champions 1-0.
Suddenly, the world opened up to them. Many on the ragtag team ended up with contracts to play in Europe. When Major League Soccer launched in 1996, the players from 1994 were the anchors of the league. Big things were expected.
But in 1998, the team - with many of the same players but a different coach in former Santa Clara head coach Steve Sampson - flamed out. It was the beginning of an erratic pattern where the Americans would take one step forward and two steps back. In 2002, the team made the quarterfinals, its best finish since 1930. In 2006, it didn't manage to advance past group play. The U.S. made it to the second round and lost in both 2010 and 2014 but didn't even qualify in 2018. The "Golden Generation" got its first crack at a World Cup in 2022, exiting in the second round.
Forward, back. Step, stumble. What will this team do?
Today's players have flown in from around the world to come together. In the past cycle, some have occasionally opted out of national games, like last summer's Gold Cup, because of the grind of their professional schedule. That boggles the minds of many of the '94ers.
There is a face of this team: Christian Pulisic, the reluctant yet omnipresent (at least in commercials) star. The designation is based on his talent and professional career arc, not on any outrageous personality quirks. Yet, most of the team remains unknown.
As in 1994, U.S. Soccer turned to a foreign coach to try to unlock some magic and talent, having made the mistake of sticking with former coach Gregg Berhalter deep into this World Cup cycle before sacking him. Mauricio Pochettino, an Argentinian with a lengthy coaching résumé, will try to squeeze success out of this group before almost certainly moving on to a new club job.
"This is not an underdog team by any means," Balboa said. "I think we're selling ourselves short. We were definitely the underdogs in the '94 World Cup. We're no longer the underdogs. We're the favorite in this group, let's be honest.
"And I think we've got to stop taking the pressure off these kids. This is their World Cup. This is the opportunity for them to do something special."
This is a different generation. A different mindset.
"We had something to prove," said Wynalda. "These guys don't feel they need to prove anything to anybody."
But 32 years later, the Gen Xers and the Gen Zers are still joined by a common purpose.
"We were trying to convince the American people that we didn't suck," Wynalda said. "I think these guys are still trying to prove that."
June 9, 2026
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Ann Killion
Sports Columnist
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