Whether you are new to soccer or a long-time supporter of the beautiful game, three documentaries have been produced to help put the U.S. men’s national team journey to this year’s World Cup into perspective.
As we get closer to the June 11 kickoff of the tournament, there are not one, not two, not three, but four documentaries help define soccer history in the United States.
In chronological order, they are:
* “When Soccer Came to America: Goals, Glamour and the Beautiful Game”
* “Soccer’s American Dream”
* The Summer of ’94”
* ‘U.S. Against the World’:
They will give new soccer fans an education and a unique perspective on how the sport has evolved in the United States over the past six decades.
Let’s take a quick look at each one:
“When Soccer Came to America: Goals, Glamour and the Beautiful Game”
Years before the U.S. hosted its first World Cup and before Major League Soccer came into existence, the North American Soccer League helped plant the seeds on what soccer is now.
Produced by ITN Productions for TNT Sports and currently available on Prime Video (Amazon) and HBOmax, “When Soccer Came to America” details the rise and fall of the NASL. Pele played a major role in boosting the league into an unprecedented orbit while playing for the New York Cosmos. The Brazilian superstar opened the door for many of the world’s stars to come over to play in the USA, including Franz Beckenbauer, Giorgio Chinaglia, Carlos Alberto, Johan Cruyff, George Best, Gerd Mueller and Teofilo Cubillas, among others. They helped the sport grow, but there was a price.
Many cynics and observers called it rock ‘n roll soccer because the sport was being sold to the general sporting public on a large scale for the first time.
The league tried to Americanize the game with some pizzaz, with cheerleaders, not unlike the NFL, but far from the traditional sport played in the rest of the world. For example, the rest of the world accepted draws, but the league decided to decide tied games not by traditional penalty kicks but via a shootout. That’s when a player started his run from the 35-yard line and had five seconds to beat the opposing goalkeeper.
The NASL, which was born via a merger between the National Professional Soccer League and United Soccer Association in 1968, lasted 17 years, going to the great soccer league in the sky after the 1984. While NASL franchises dropped by the wayside during its final years, U.S. Soccer tried to save soccer in the U.S. by putting in a longshot bid to host the 1986 World Cup. FIFA awarded Mexico with the prize, and the NASL continued its downward spiral.
Oliver Price directed the film.
It can be watched on HBOmax or Amazon.com.
“Soccer’s American Dream”
Soccer’s American Dream is a six-part documentary series that takes a broader view of the growth of sport in the USA. It is produced by Vice TV.
It starts with the birth of the NASL and portrays the rollercoaster ride of professional soccer in the USA. It takes the viewer from the U.S. barely qualifying for the 1990 World Cup, which ended a 40-year drought from the soccer universe’s most important competition to the start and the rapid rise to world domination of the U.S. Women National Team to the current state of the game in the USA.
When archival footage wasn’t available, the film uses some animation to help move the story along.
Future episodes will include the birth of Major League Soccer, which is in its 31st season in 2026, the USMNT’s successes and failures in the World Cup, and the USWNT’s continued success in the Women’s World Cup and the Olympics, with a few controversies to overcome, along the way.
Landon Donovan and David Beckham are expected to appear in future episodes.
“Soccer’s American Dream” tells the story of a sport that refused to fail in America,” VICE TV president Pete Gaffney said in a statement. “At a time when the country is preparing to host the 2026 World Cup, this series looks back at the players, pioneers, and risk-takers who turned long odds into lasting impact – and asks what it will take for the U.S. to truly compete at the highest level.”
Soccer’s American Dream airs exclusively on Vice TV. Some episodes are available the next day on YouTube. The first episode premiered Tuesday, May 5, at 10 p.m. ET/PT, with new episodes weekly on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET through June 9.
The multi-part series is produced by VICE Studios for VICE TV. Joe Ingham is the executive producer, along with Meghan Payne, executive producer for VICE TV.
For more information, visit the Vice TV website at https://www.vicetv.com/en_us
“The Summer of ’94”
This single documentary premieres on FOX on Saturday, May 23 at 12:30 p.m. and focuses on how the USMNT prepared for the 1994 World Cup. Because it was the host of that competition, the U.S. did not have to go through the grueling gauntlet of qualifying. And since the country did not have a true first division league – MLS’ inaugural 1996 season was two years away, there were no meaningful competitive games to raise the level of the team.
The team’s goal was not to embarrass itself and to avoid becoming the first host side to fail to reach the knockout rounds.
We all know the team accomplished reached the second round.
The team’s journey from establishing a club environment in Mission Viejo, Calif in 1991 laid the foundation for the team’s success.
The USMNT never had a true stadium to call home as it visited the world to play national teams and even club teams on four continents. The team visited countries such as Russia, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Ireland, Morocco, Spain, Brazil and Turkey as it strived to create a bond between the players.
“It was difficult because we didn’t have a training facility at first,” defender Marcelo Balboa told this writer recently. “We were getting dressed in our cars and then we’d go out to the beach and train [before] the field was ready.
“It was a work in progress. It was, it was a lot of fun, but a lot of work.”
He later added: “I don’t think there’s a lot of people that could have done what we did back then.”
Besides Balboa, there are plenty of other U.S. Soccer legends and National Soccer Hall of Fame members in the doc, including Tony Meola, Alexi Lalas, who will have a prominent studio role in FOX’s coverage of the 2026 World Cup, Eric Wynalda, Paul Caligiuri and Cobi Jones.
The master of ceremonies of this American squad was head coach Bora Milutinovic, a soccer-acclaimed soccer gypsy, who made sure the team was not going to embarrass itself on home soil. Milutinovic, a master strategist, knew several languages, although his English was sketchy, which made him an enigma to some players and the media.
The film is directed by Dave LaMattina and Chad N. Walker.
The documentary is produced by Imagine Documentaries, Delirio Films, Cookie Jar & A Dream Studios, and Copper Pot Pictures.
“U.S. Soccer against the World”
This four-part series follows the current U.S. men’s side through its trials and tribulations of competing in one World Cup and preparing for another. It puts players under the microscope, on and off the pitch, thanks to unprecedented behind-the-scenes look at the squad, whether it is in team meetings, locker room speeches while getting up close and personal.
Part I tackled the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, in which the U.S. got out of the group stage, but was eliminated in the Round of 16.
Part II dealt with the Copa America disaster that led to the sacking of head coach Gregg Berhalter after the host Americans crashed of the group stage of Copa America in 2024.
One poignant locker room scene has Tim Weah apologizing to his teammates after he was slapped with a red card in a vital loss to Panama during Copa. Afterwards, several of Weah’s teammates gave him a group hug.
Parts III and IV are scheduled for the next two Tuesdays, May 26 and June 2, at 9 p.m. ET, respectively.
Besides wins and losses, the documentaries also focus on the players, filming them in their home environments.
That included Christian Pulisic trying to bake cookies for his A.C. Milan, and goalkeeper Matt Turner celebrating the birthday of his baby son, Easton, while on the road with the national team before talking, the tragedy of how his wife Ashley suffered a miscarriage while he was ready to play for the U.S. in a World Cup qualifier in El Salvador in 1991.
Many players who are expected to be named to the World Cup roster on May 26, are featured. They include Tyler Adams, on how becoming a father changed him, and Weston McKennie, Antonee Robinson, Folarin Balogun, Chris Richards, Tim Ream, Sergino Dest, Matt Turner, Matt Freese, Gio Reyna, Malik Tillman, Brendan Aaronson and Diego Luna.
To catch up on the first two episodes, visit HBOmax.
Michael Lewis, the sixth recipient of the Clay Berling Media Career of Excellence Award in 2025, can be followed on X (formerly Twitter) and Bluesky at @Soccerwriter. His 10th soccer book, Around the World Cup in 40 Years: An American sportswriter’s perspective, has been published.
