team won gold at the 1996 Olympics, where the
men’s team did not get beyond round one.
By 1997, professional soccer had its major league
of ten teams in two divisions, and D.C. United took
the championship by defeating the Colorado
Rapids 2-1. With the A-League, there was also a Divi-
sion 2.
The World Cup of 1998 was a big disappointment.
National coach Steve Sampson clashed with his play-
ers, firing team captain John Harkes and instituting
a controversial lineup. In France, the U.S. team lost
0-2 to Germany and decisively 1-2 to Iran, being
eliminated even before losing 0-1 to former Yugosla-
via. Sampson resigned and was replaced by Bruce
Arena, who rejuvenated the U.S. team for the next
millennium.
Canadian Developments The decade began well
for Canadian soccer. In 1990, the Vancouver Eighty-
Sixers, champions of the Canadian Soccer League
(CSL), beat the U.S. champion Maryland Bays 3-2 in
Burnaby, British Columbia, to win the only North
American Club Championship ever held. Canada’s
national team, which failed to qualify for the 1990
World Cup, won the 1990 North American Nations
Cup in Canada 1-0 over a B-team from the United
States and an upset 2-1 over Mexico.
Professional soccer in Canada suffered a serious
setback when the CSL folded in 1992. Low spectator
interest and high travel costs were prime factors.
The three most successful Canadian clubs, the Van-
couver Eighty-Sixers, the Toronto Blizzard, and the
Montreal Impact, joined the APSL and continued to
play there and in its successor league. By 1999, plans
to revive a Division 1 Canadian soccer league were
deemed too financially risky.
Canada’s national men’s team failed to qualify for
the three World Cups and both Olympics of the
1990’s. The team was modestly successful in the
CONCACAF Gold Cup, eliminated after the first
round in 1991, 1993, and 1996 but withdrawing in
- Canada’s national women’s team did better,
playing in the first rounds of the 1995 and 1999
Women’s World Cup.
Impact Soccer became somewhat of a surprise
sport in the United States after the 1994 World Cup.
Mainstream American audiences took a liking to this
game that was new to many. The professional teams
consolidated and were able to relaunch a Division 1
soccer league. However, the game continued to be
most successful at the amateur, collegiate, and na-
tional women’s level.
In Canada, the folding of the CSL and the lack of
success for the men’s national team meant that soc-
cer remained a niche sport. The national women’s
team was far more successful, presenting an interest-
ing sports alternative for female athletes.Further Reading
Brodsgaard, Shel, and Bob Mackin. Goals and
Dreams: A Celebration of Canadian Women’s Soccer.
Gibsons Landing, B.C.: Nightwood Editions,- The 1990’s is covered in a historical over-
view; profiles of players include those active dur-
ing the decade. Introduction by Andrea Neil, Ca-
nadian midfielder since 1991.
Hunt, Chris, ed.The Complete Book of Soccer. Rich-
mond Hill, Ont.: Firefly Books, 2008. Covers all
major competitions of the professional and na-
tional U.S. and Canadian teams of the 1990’s.
Richly illustrated, with index.
Markovits, Andrei, and Steven Hellerman.Offside:
Soccer and American Exceptionalism. Princeton, N.J.:
Princeton University Press, 2001. Chapters 5 to 7
cover the 1990’s; chapter 6 is devoted to the 1994
World Cup. Index, appendix, with data on colle-
giate soccer.
Szymanski, Stefan, and Andrew Zimbalist.National
Pastime: How Americans Play Baseball and the Rest of
the World Plays Soccer. Washington, D.C.: Brookings
Institution, 2005. Comparison of the two sports,
with emphasis on the role of economics and tele-
vision on a sport’s popularity. Analyzes changes in
U.S. soccer in the 1990’s.
R. C. Lutz
See also Hamm, Mia; Olympic Games of 1992;
Olympic Games of 1996; Soccer moms; Sports;
World Cup of 1994. Soccer moms
Definition Middle- to upper-middle-class
suburban mothers who drive their children to
soccer practices in minivans or SUVsSoccer moms were viewed as a vital swing vote in the 1996
presidential election, helping incumbent president Bill
Clinton to defeat Republican candidate Bob Dole.784 Soccer moms The Nineties in America