Revisiting the 1998 World Cup and the U.S. Men's Team's Legacy of Failure

The 2018 Men's World Cup starts next week—and for the first time since 1986, the United States failed to qualify for soccer's premiere competition.

The lack of an American presence at this year's tournament has many soccer fans wondering what went wrong. But as Roger Bennett of the WNYC Studios podcast American Fiasco tells All Things Considered host Jami Floyd, the roots of the team's failure can be traced all the way back to their implosion in the 1998 World Cup.

"These men didn't just lose three games, they didn't just humiliate themselves. They actually destroyed the profile of the sport," Bennett said. 

But just like in 1998, Bennett believes there's hope on the horizon with the U.S. Women's soccer team—the favorites to win next year's Women's World Cup.

To hear more about the links between the 1998 and 2018 editions of the U.S. men's national soccer team, and Bennett's prediction for this year's World Cup winner, listen to the full conversation.