Thirty-two years ago, many fans in the global soccer community saw the United States planning to host its first FIFA World Cup in 1994 and asked one collective question:Why? At the time, the United States men's national team was a largely anonymous squad of unknown players wearing now-nostalgic denim uniforms. In mainstream America, soccer did not have the same popularity as other sports like gridiron football or baseball. But then, the tournament kicked off. To look back at the summer of 1994, members of that squad Alexi Lalas, Cobi Jones, John Harkes, and Marcelo Balboa reunited to take a trip down memory lane and recount the tournament that changed the sport stateside. Bora And The Bootcamp The architect behind the Americans' 1994 transformation was Bora Milutinovi. The enigmatic manager arrived with a storied World Cup pedigree, having already guided Costa Rica and Mexico to the round of 16 and quarterfinals, respectively. Milutinovi specialty was inspiring underdogs to play far above their weight class, but his methods frustrated a young Lalas. "Bora, incredibly intelligent man... spoke five languages, not a single one of them well, and will go down for me as... the most frustrating coach I ever had in my life, but also the coach that gave me the opportunity that changed my life," Lalas. For the players, Bora was not the most popular person in the locker room, as his experience was initially met with resistance, until the team won its first-ever major international tournament title at the 1991 Gold Cup. "I hated it, and I tell you why, because he made me the translator. Nothing like being on a team, and you're the player translating the coach's new message. That was awful," Balboa said. "But as time grew on, I understood what Bora wanted, and I think we all believed it when we go to the '91 Gold Cup, and all of a sudden we're starting to win games, we beat Mexico, and we win the Gold Cup. "I don't think a lot of us were buying in until that tournament. Once we won that tournament, we were like,crap, here we go." The 'Miracle On Ice' Moment By the time the tournament arrived, USA was still widely viewed as naive. But after earning a draw against Switzerland, the Americans faced tournament favorites Colombia in front of a raucous Rose Bowl crowd. What followed was a historic upset that became the U.S. soccer equivalent of the 1980 "Miracle on Ice." "Final whistle blows, all hell breaks loose in the most positive way... I remember in 1980 when the US hockey team, Jim Craig, with a flag around him, and I, I wanted that moment to celebrate my country," Lalas said. "Everybody thought we would lose to Colombia, right?" The 2-1 victory was made even more staggering by the roster's humble realities. The United States didn't even have a domestic professional league at the time. "When you talk about iconic wins,' best win ever.' You look at that team with six guys, didn't have a club team, we trained every day," Balboa said. "Cobi and I, we never played at a club, and all of our experience was international," Lalas added. Brazil Breaks America's Hearts The dream run eventually collided with global powerhouse Brazil in the Round of 16 on the Fourth of July. The match reached a violent turning point when U.S. playmaker Tab Ramos was hospitalized following a brutal elbow from Brazil's Leonardo. Though Leonardo was red-carded, losing Ramos gutted the American midfield. "Just devastating, scared beyond belief, because the way he landed," Harkes said. "I cared about Tab. I didn't care about the game at that point." The loss of Ramos didn't just hurt USA and its players emotionally, but tactically as well. "We not only lost a player in Tab leaving the field, but we lost from a practical perspective the guy that could hold the ball for us," Lalas said. Even down to 10 men, the eventual world champions continued to produce scoring opportunities. In the 72nd minute, Brazilian forward Bebeto finally broke the deadlock, slipping a clinical shot through the tiniest of windows. "What pisses me off about this goal is that I have the tackle... The problem is I get to it and I overrun it, and it ends up going in the only possible place through my legs and into the far corner there," Lalas said. "This little magician right here, Bebeto, scores the goal that they need to go through and for all intents and purposes, our World Cup is over." Looking Ahead To This Summer More than three decades after the class of '94 laid the foundation, the World Cup is returning to North American soil. For the current generation of the U.S. the tournament represents a massive launching pad to eclipse the history written by their predecessors. "I think this team can go far. I think this team can go farther than 2002," Harkes said. I hope we get to a semi, or even beyond that. Why not? Why not us? Let's believe in that." As the pressure and expectation mount for the modern squad, the trailblazers of '94 remind them that changing the sport forever requires a bit of audacity. "Gotta have dreamers," Alexi Lalas said. 2026 FIFA World Cup: How To Watch The 2026 FIFA World Cup will run from June 11July 19, 2026. Spread across three countries, the tournament will culminate with the final on July 19 at New York New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. All 104 tournament matches will air live across FOX (70) and FS1 (34) with every match streaming live and on-demand within both the FOX One and the FOX Sports app. A record 40 matches, more than one-third of the tournament, will air in prime time across FOX (21) and FS1 (19). The opening match on June 11 between Mexico and South Africa (3 p.m. ET) will stream for free on Tubi, as well as the USA's opening match against Paraguay on June 12 (9 p.m. ET).

Austin Reaves could land a massive $155 million contract as ESPNs Bobby Marks names the Lakers the best long-term fit for the rising guard heading into free agency.

SportsLine's model and team of experts have revealed top NBA props picks and NBA predictions for the NBA Playoffs on Saturday

ATLANTA (AP) Jake Irvin held the Braves hitless over five innings before leaving with an injury, and the Washington Nationals defeated Atlanta 2-0 with a combined one-hitter Saturday.Michael Harris led off the seventh with a clean single to center against Brad Lord for the Braves' only hit. A call that was overturned and then disputed put two runners on for Atlanta, but Ozzie Albies popped out, Dominic Smith flied out and Austin Riley fanned to preserve the shutout.Lord worked three innings before Richard Lovelady turned in a perfect ninth for his fourth save.Dylan Crews and Jorbit Vivas homered off starter Grant Holmes for the only runs of a game that was delayed 41 minutes in the middle of the second by rain.It was an unlikely performance by Irvin (2-4), who had not earned a win since his first start on March 29. He bent over and grimaced after his final out in the fifth, went back out in the sixth for warmups, but was lifted without throwing another official pitch.The nature of his injury wasn't immediately known.The 29-year-old right-hander walked one and struck out seven during his 80-pitch stint. The Braves didnt come close to a hit while he was on the mound.Lord took over in the sixth and retired the first-place Braves in order before Harris broke up the hitless showing. Vivas at third bobbled what could've been a double-play grounder, allowing Harris to reach the bag ahead of the delayed toss.The Braves challenged and the call was overturned, but a further review of the replay showed shortstop CJ Abrams' right hand appeared to strike Harris in the helmet when the runner's foot popped off the base. Manager Blake Butera came out to dispute the play, but the revised call stood.It didn't matter. Atlanta couldn't take advantage of the break.Holmes (3-2) fanned 10 in five innings the third time in his career he has reached double-digit strikeouts. He escaped a bases-loaded jam with no outs in the third. Luis Garcia Jr. hit a back-to-the-mound grounder that became a 1-2-3 double play, and Holmes hopped off the mound after Jose Tena went down swinging on three pitches.Up nextThe series wraps up Sunday with LHP Foster Griffin (5-2, 4.02) going for the Nationals against Braves LHP Martn Prez (2-2, 2.85). Atlanta will be trying to avoid only its second series loss of the season after splitting the first two games.___AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

George Springer hit his 65th career leadoff home run and the Blue Jays sent Paul Skenes to losses in consecutive starts for the first time this season Saturday.

Watch the Montreal Alliance and Ottawa BlackJacks go head-to-head in Canadian Elite Basketball League action from the Arena at TD Place in Ottawa.

Oleksandr Usyk has narrowly avoided one of the biggest upsets in boxing history, defeating Rico Verhoeven in to retain his heavyweight titles in front of the Pyramids of Giza on Sunday morning AEST.

The 38-year-old hid a golden secret from his teammates before running out to make history in his 433rd match.

Oleksandr Usyk retained his world heavyweight titles in Egypt with a highly controversial stoppage win against boxing novice Rico Verhoeven.

Ihr fnftes Spiel der Eishockey-WM in der Schweiz gewinnt die DEB-Auswahl gegen Nachbar sterreich mit 6:2 (0:0, 2:1, 4:1). Lukas Reichel traf dreimal fr die Deutschen.[mehr]