How the gamble that brought professional soccer to America almost didn't pay off - from the messy beginnings of both the men's and women's pro game to the Messi era we're in today, as world's biggest tournament rolls back into town.
The North American Soccer League was supposed to light to fuse on pro-soccer in 70s America, so what went wrong? Meanwhile the country's women are just trying to get on the field.
By the mid-80s pro-soccer had collapsed and the US men's national team hadn't made a World Cup in decades. So what better time to launch a bid to bring the 1994 edition to America.
In the late 80s, the newly formed US women's national team faces an uphill fight for recognition. But a winning formula brings home two World Cups and Olympic Gold in just 10 years.
The success of World Cup '94 spawns a new men's pro-league, the MLS. But major startup problems and a fractured men's national team make headlines heading into the new millennium.
The women's 1999 World Cup team becomes national idols after winning on home soil, but capitalizing on this success to form a fully professional league proves harder than imagined.
As the 2026 World Cup arrives, what will it take for the U.S. men's national team to truly level up, and how can the women's team stay among the world's best in the years to come.
