THE last time America failed to qualify for the football World Cup, the tournament still included West Germany and the Soviet Union. But when the sport’s signature event kicks off in Russia next year, the stars and stripes will be conspicuously absent. In much of the world, there is little shame in missing the event: well-regarded teams such as the Netherlands, Ghana and Chile will also be staying home in 2018. Unlike those countries, however, the United States enjoys the great advantage of belonging to CONCACAF, the confederation for North America and the Caribbean—a region so weak it has not had a single team reach even the Cup’s semi-final stage since 1930. Even though America is far from a footballing powerhouse, its streak of seven consecutive World Cup appearances was one of the longest in the world.
The United States stumbled out of the gate in “the Hexagonal”, as the final stage of CONCACAF’s World Cup qualification tournament is known, suffering a home loss to...Continue reading