Reminiscing on the 1994 World Cup with U.S. Men’s National Team Greats
Cobi Jones, Tony Meola, Benny Feilhaber, Alejandro Bedoya reflect on 1994 on the debut of “The U.S. Soccer Podcast”
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is now less than one year away, and as we mark off the days in our calendars, the excitement leading up to the sport’s biggest tournament is only growing stronger.
Next summer will be just the second time in history that the global competition will take place on American soil. The United States previously hosted the World Cup in 1994, a monumental milestone not only for the country, which was the sole host that year, but for the growth of soccer in the country.
“We have the ability to show what we love about the sport and who we are and what kind of fans we are,” Jones said on the episode.“It's going to be amazing, man. I am more than excited about what the World Cup is going to look like in a year from now.”
In 1994, the journey for Jones and the USMNT began early.Their training camp was based in Mission Viejo, California, a city located in between San Diego and Los Angeles. Several U.S. players were stationed on-site for more than a year prior to the opening match, including Jones, who played his first of three World Cups in 1994.
“You’re in a family unit together, and you know that family unit is together just based on the fact that the World Cup is coming to the USA,” he said.
The USA's group stage matches were held at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. The venue has hosted many storied matches in World Cup history, including the 1994 final and the 1999 Women’s World Cup final, which the U.S. won. Being based in Los Angeles meant familiarity for Jones, a SoCal native and UCLA alum. He witnessed firsthand how his city transformed for the high-profile sporting event.
“I remember getting on the overpass, and as we're going to the other side to get on, I look, and there's no cars,” Jones said. “I realized that the police had stopped the entirety of the freeway in rush hour traffic on the five so that we could get on and have a smooth sailing to the training site. Being a Cali kid, I was just like, ‘Okay, yep, this is it. It's here.’”
The United States was drawn into a group with Romania, Switzerland and Colombia. Coming into the tournament, Colombia especially was highly favored. Before the tournament began, soccer great Pelé picked Colombia to win it all.
Prior to their group stage meeting, the USMNT had only beaten Colombia once in the all-time series between the two nations. Focused on making the country proud and getting out of the group stage, the U.S.players saw an opportunity to sting the team many predicted would go through.
“The thing that stood out for me was the amount of American flags that you would see everywhere,” Jones said. “They're supporting us as we were driving in. That's when you get that sense of pride. Your heart swells a little bit.”
The United States stunned Colombia and downed them 2-1 in front of 93,869 at the Rose Bowl.Surprisingly, Colombia didn’t even make it out of the group. Switzerland blanked the favorites 2-0, and the group’s winner Romania defeated the Colombians as well. All three advanced to the knockout stage.
While the 2026 edition will debut the Round of 32 with 48 teams in the field for the first time, for the United States in 1994, advancing past group play meant the next step was the Round of 16. Waiting for U.S. in the single-elimination game was one of the best teams in the world —Brazil.
“I can still picture the moment as we're walking out before the game,” Jones recalled. “Seeing the walkout next to the Brazilian team and them all holding hands, which I thought was cool at the time, and different, as they walked out onto the field. That will stick with me forever.”
The Americans put up an incredible, determined fight on July 4, 1994 at Stanford Stadium, keeping up with the eventual tournament winners deep into the match. Brazil eventually broke a scoreless deadlock when Bebeto found the go-ahead goal in the 72nd minute, setting up their route to an unprecedented fourth World Cup trophy.
“Brazil struggled to win that game,” former USMNT midfielder Benny Feilhaber said.“They were the clearly better team. But you know how sports can be. I remember it being tight, and Brazil feeling relieved when Bebeto finally scored that goal to eventually win 1-0.”
Brazil eliminated the United States in the Round of 16, ending the host country's 1994 run.Though the Americans didn’t take home the trophy, there were many upsides to the 1994 World Cup. For FIFA, the chance to stage the tournament in the USA for the first time paid off.The matches drew passionate crowds, and the 1994 World Cup ended up being a financial success.
“You look around the league, you look around the stadiums, the fans, the tifos, the passion, the rivalries as well. All that are reasons to be thankful for that ‘94 World Cup and what it's brought,” Feilhaber said.
The world at large also felt the upsides. 1994 was the first time the World Cup was held outside of a European or Latin country. Mexico was the only North American nation to host before the United States (1970, 1986) and will host for a third time in 2026, alongside the U.S. and Canada.
Bringing soccer to other areas of the world, beyond those established regions, opened the door for more countries to later host like South Africa in 2010, Qatar in 2022 and Canada in 2026.
“That set the tone now for soccer to grow and evolve, not just in our country in the States and in North America, but obviously in Africa and other parts of the world. The World Cup was eventually held in South Korea and Japan as well,” podcast co-host Alejandro Bedoya said.
Running parallel to the 1994 World Cup was the emergence of Major League Soccer. When the World Cup kicked off, the United States did not have a first division soccer league. The tournament produced marketable names that would become the faces of “glory clubs” and the original 10 teams that would compete during the league’s inaugural season in 1996.
The effects of the 1994 World Cup also created something very special in America: generational fans. Soccer fans who may have watched their first soccer match in 1994, on TV or in-person at one of the nine venues spread across the country, will have the chance next summer to share that joy with the generation behind them.
“A lot of this growth and a lot of the success of MLS and the American player to this day, playing at big clubs, you could trace it back to the ‘94 World Cup,” Bedoya said.
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