A website dedicated to the deep history of American soccer — starting in Waukesha, Wisconsin in 1866.

games
77,821
players
65,257
teams
7,455
competitions
390
0 1,000 2,000 3,000 1866: 4 games 1866 1868: 5 games 1869: 6 games 1870: 8 games 1871: 8 games 1872: 19 games 1873: 32 games 1873 1874: 33 games 1875: 34 games 1876: 39 games 1877: 19 games 1878: 8 games 1879: 10 games 1880: 1 games 1880 1881: 8 games 1882: 12 games 1883: 21 games 1884: 54 games 1885: 129 games 1886: 218 games 1887: 196 games 1887 1888: 205 games 1889: 264 games 1890: 432 games 1891: 268 games 1892: 2 games 1893: 2 games 1894: 28 games 1894 1895: 30 games 1896: 2 games 1897: 1 games 1901 1905: 17 games 1906: 7 games 1907: 35 games 1908: 91 games 1908 1909: 87 games 1910: 168 games 1911: 268 games 1912: 235 games 1913: 236 games 1914: 152 games 1915: 141 games 1915 1916: 143 games 1917: 180 games 1918: 98 games 1919: 84 games 1920: 156 games 1921: 254 games 1922: 228 games 1922 1923: 137 games 1924: 250 games 1925: 308 games 1926: 304 games 1927: 333 games 1928: 417 games 1929: 404 games 1929 1930: 287 games 1931: 188 games 1932: 82 games 1933: 116 games 1934: 188 games 1935: 161 games 1936: 164 games 1936 1937: 150 games 1938: 198 games 1939: 248 games 1940: 175 games 1941: 167 games 1942: 129 games 1943: 167 games 1943 1944: 193 games 1945: 120 games 1946: 169 games 1947: 144 games 1948: 141 games 1949: 114 games 1950: 159 games 1950 1951: 101 games 1952: 91 games 1953: 88 games 1954: 94 games 1955: 68 games 1956: 60 games 1957: 89 games 1957 1958: 110 games 1959: 37 games 1960: 161 games 1961: 142 games 1962: 206 games 1963: 200 games 1964: 150 games 1964 1965: 110 games 1966: 85 games 1967: 319 games 1968: 411 games 1969: 126 games 1970: 432 games 1971: 184 games 1971 1972: 139 games 1973: 192 games 1974: 244 games 1975: 339 games 1976: 376 games 1977: 364 games 1978: 529 games 1978 1979: 586 games 1980: 808 games 1981: 878 games 1982: 592 games 1983: 741 games 1984: 897 games 1985: 850 games 1985 1986: 601 games 1987: 612 games 1988: 446 games 1989: 584 games 1990: 481 games 1991: 527 games 1992: 564 games 1992 1993: 577 games 1994: 435 games 1995: 499 games 1996: 964 games 1997: 1,554 games 1998: 1,738 games 1999: 1,897 games 1999 2000: 2,342 games 2001: 2,700 games 2002: 2,895 games 2003: 2,786 games 2004: 2,928 games 2005: 2,689 games 2006: 2,839 games 2006 2007: 2,936 games 2008: 2,329 games 2009: 2,315 games 2010: 2,311 games 2011: 2,100 games 2012: 2,294 games 2013: 2,746 games 2013 2014: 1,570 games 2015: 902 games 2016: 591 games 2017: 617 games 2018: 609 games 2019: 619 games 2020: 309 games 2020 2021: 472 games 2022: 591 games 2023: 697 games 2024: 745 games 2025: 752 games 2026: 548 games
Games on record by year. One column a year, from the first game on record to the current season. A year inside the range with nothing on record keeps its slot and draws nothing. Select a column for that year; the dates page carries every count.

On this day · September 11

1886 · Fall River East Ends Marrieds 1 - 5 Fall River East Ends Singles F

2012 · Costa Rica 0 - 1 Mexico WCq · 44,007 attending

1945 · Franz Beckenbauer was born

all →

Competitions

American League of Professional Football, 1894

Six baseball owners' six-week experiment — the first professional soccer league in America.

American Soccer League, 1921–1933

The first professional golden age, built on mill-town teams; the Depression ended it.

North American Soccer League, 1968–1984

Pelé, the Cosmos, and more ambition than the gate receipts could carry.

Major League Soccer, 1996–

The top flight since 1996, founded as the price of hosting the 1994 World Cup.

National Women's Soccer League, 2013–

The third attempt at a women's national league, and the one that lasted.

US Open Cup, 1914–

Open to every team in the country since 1914, as the National Challenge Cup.

all competitions →

Teams

USMNT — US Men's National Team

Every international on record, from Newark in 1885 to today.

Bethlehem Steel, 1907–1930

The steel company's team, American soccer's first dynasty.

Hakoah All-Stars, 1928–1933

Built from Hakoah Vienna's touring stars who stayed; 1929 Open Cup champions.

New York Cosmos, 1971–1984

Pelé and Beckenbauer at Giants Stadium; the NASL's rise and fall in one team.

LA Galaxy, 1996–

The MLS flagship: Donovan, Beckham, Ibrahimović, and more MLS Cups than anyone.

Portland Thorns, 2013–

The NWSL's standard-bearer — no city turns out for women's soccer like Portland.

Players

Archie Stark

Bethlehem Steel's goal machine — 70 in the 1924–25 ASL season alone.

Billy Gonsalves

The Babe Ruth of American soccer, a fixture in 1930s Open Cup finals.

Pelé

Three seasons with the Cosmos, and suddenly America cared about soccer.

Mia Hamm

The face of the '99 World Cup winners, and the game's biggest star of her era.

Landon Donovan

Six MLS Cups and, for a decade, the national team's all-time scorer.

David Beckham

The designated player rule was written to bring him to the Galaxy.

Et cetera

MLS Inaugural Draft, 1996

Ten brand-new teams stocking their rosters from scratch.

Starlight Park

An amusement park in the Bronx with 400 games on record, 1927–1946.

Fall River, MA

The mill city that was the capital of American soccer between the wars.

US Soccer Hall of Fame

138 inductees on record, with games, goals, and birthplaces where we have them.

1967

Two rival leagues in one season; the survivors merged into the NASL.

Spalding Soccer Guide, 1915–16

89 games sourced to a single annual — the richest of the Spalding guides here.