U.S. soccer’s greatest embarrassment in recent times was the men’s national team failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, snapping a string of seven successive appearances.
Since reaching the 2000 semifinals in Sydney, the United States has qualified for the Summer Games once — a baffling drought for an organization that, based on sheer resources and player options, should almost always represent the second-rate region.
Starting Thursday in Guadalajara, Mexico, the Americans will take another crack at it, competing in an eight-nation Concacaf tournament that sends two teams to Japan.
To qualify, they will need to finish first or second in a group that also includes Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Mexico.