Major League Soccer (MLS) begins its 2026 season on 21 February and an electricity will be in the air. While the excitement continues to build for the FIFA World Cup 2026™, the memories from when the North American league celebrated its first campaign two years after the groundbreaking 1994 FIFA World Cup USA™ will come flooding back.
USA World Cup stars like Eric Wynalda, Tab Ramos and Alexi Lalas came home to help MLS get off the ground, and the result was a healthy domestic league that could serve as the first professional step for aspiring American players.
But MLS was not just for USA national teamers. The league also became an important source of club football competition for other countries throughout the Concacaf region, and as the years wore on, around the world. From France 1998 to Qatar 2022, MLS players from 25 different nations have been selected for FIFA World Cup™ squads.
FIFA takes a look back at the notable names who hailed from the league at the global showpiece.
France 1998
It was no surprise to see 16 MLS players on the USA roster at France 1998, including the aforementioned trio of Wynalda, Ramos and Lalas, but it was also the setting for up-and-comers like Brian McBride and Eddie Pope, each of whom played major roles in USA’s quarter-final finish at Korea/Japan 2002.
Just five non-USA players represented MLS at that year’s bonanza, two of them being the league’s biggest stars: Mexico goalkeeper Jorge Campos and Colombia midfield maestro Carlos Valderrama.
Korea/Japan 2002
Four years later in the first World Cup on Asian soil, USA was the only team with players hailing from MLS, with 11 from across nine teams. This was also when the world caught a glimpse of the young talent being produced in the league.
It was a pair of 20-year-olds, Landon Donovan of the San Jose Earthquakes and DaMarcus Beasley of the Chicago Fire, who helped spark the Americans to a 3-2 upset win over Portugal in their opener and a monumental 2-0 triumph over rivals and neighbours Mexico in the round of 16, before a narrow 1-0 defeat to Germany in the final eight.
Germany 2006
The only USA player to score a goal in three World Cups, Clint Dempsey, got his first taste of the global showpiece as a member of the New England Revolution, one of 11 MLS players for USA at Germany 2006.
Four MLS players from three other countries were named to World Cup rosters, highlighted by New England’s Avery John and Cornell Glen of the LA Galaxy as part of Trinidad and Tobago’s World Cup debut, while Chivas USA defender Claudio Suarez was named to his last Mexico World Cup squad.
South Africa 2010
Just four MLS players were on Bob Bradley’s USA squad in South Africa, the fewest of any World Cup to date. The standout was LA Galaxy man Donovan, who scored arguably the most memorable goal in USA men’s national team history when his stoppage time strike beat Algeria and sent his team to the knockout round.
Three non-USA players from MLS were at South Africa, two of them on a New Zealand team that went unbeaten in the group stage with three draws: Chivas USA’s Simon Elliott and Andrew Boyens of the New York Red Bulls.
Brazil 2014
The number of USA MLS players at Brazil 2014 reverted back to double-digits with ten, but an impressive 11 non-USA players spread across six teams traveled to the tournament. For the first time, an MLS player suited up for Brazil at a World Cup, as goalkeeper Julio Cesar – playing on-loan at Toronto – represented his country on home soil.
Columbus Crew pair Giancarlo Gonzalez and Waylon Francis, along with Roy Miller of the New York Red Bulls, were on Costa Rica’s magical run to the quarter-finals, while fellow Red Bull Tim Cahill scored one of the tournament’s best goals for Australia against the Netherlands.
Victor Bernardez (San Jose Earthquakes), Jerry Bengtson (New England Revolution), Boniek Garcia (Houston Dynamo) and Marvin Chavez (Chivas USA) formed part of the Honduras squad, while San Jose’s Steven Beitashour became the first MLS player selected to an IR Iran World Cup team.
Russia 2018
Despite USA failing to qualify for the global finals in Russia, 18 players from the league were selected. Roman Torres (Seattle Sounders), Harold Cummings (San Jose Earthquakes), Anibal Godoy (San Jose Earthquakes), Adolfo Machado (Houston Dynamo), Fidel Escobar (New York Red Bulls) and Michael Murillo (New York Red Bulls) were on the Panama team making their World Cup debut, while Kendall Waston (Vancouver Whitecaps), David Guzman (Portland Timbers), Francisco Calvo (Minnesota United), Rodney Wallace (NYCFC) and Marco Urena (LAFC) suited up for Costa Rica.
LAFC’s Omar Gaber became the first MLS player to be a part of an Egypt World Cup squad, as was the case with Seattle’s Gustav Svensson of Sweden and Peru pair Yoshi Yotun (Orlando City) and Andy Polo (Portland). For the first time since Germany 2006, MLS had representation on a Mexico World Cup side, with LAFC’s Carlos Vela and brothers Giovani and Jonathan dos Santos of the LA Galaxy.
Qatar 2022
Canada’s qualification for Qatar 2022 ballooned the number of MLS players for this global showpiece, with 35 hailing from the league, including six from CF Montreal, giving Canada 11 in total to go along with nine from USA. Ecuador dug deep into the MLS pool as well, selecting four players: LAFC trio Jose Cifuentes, Diego Palacios and Sebas Mendez, along with Seattle’s Xavier Arreaga.
Other teams boasting an MLS player on a World Cup squad for the first time were Wales with LAFC’s Gareth Bale, Poland with Karol Swiderski of Charlotte FC, Switzerland and Chicago Fire star Xherdan Shaqiri, and Uruguay pair Facundo Torres of Orlando City and Martin Caceres of the LA Galaxy.
Yet the biggest source of pride for the league was Atlanta United midfielder Thiago Almada being named to the Argentina team that would ultimately lift the trophy, making Almada the first active MLS player to win the World Cup.
