Revisiting The 1998 World Cup With Roger Bennett's "American Fiasco"

The growth of soccer in the United States has been incredible over the past decade. Not only have we seen growth domestically within Major League Soccer, but just walking down the street you can pick out multiple different soccer jerseys being casually worn. It has become one of the most popular sports in the country.

Because of the recent resurgence, what isn't very well known is how the sport almost died in the United States before the turn of the century. Roger Bennett, of the Men in Blazers podcast and TV show, completed a mini-series called "American Fiasco" to tell the story of the USMNT's failure at the 1998 World Cup.

I highly recommend this podcast. Bennett tells the incredible story in detail, including interviews with Steve Sampson, Alexi Lalas and John Harks, starting from the U.S. hosting the 1994 World Cup to the collapse of 1998. He takes a look at the locker room dynamic, the tactics and the politics that went behind the incredible story of the U.S. men's national team believing they could win it all to just completely failing.

You can listen to his introduction below:

You can find the podcast on WNYC Studios but also across your typical podcast channels.