Scores On This Historic Day: July 17, 1994, The World Cup Final On American Soil

July 17, 1994: For the 1st time -- and, so far, for the only time -- the Final of soccer's World Cup is held on American soil.

This tournament remains the World Cup with the highest per-game attendance, 68,991. And what an array of talent, not dampened in the slightest by England, which still thinks of itself as the country in world "football," failing to qualify for the 1st time since 1978:

* From finalists Brazil: Romário, Ronaldo, Cafu, Bebeto, Dunga, Leonardo, and Claudio Taffarel.

* From quarterfinalists the Netherlands: Frank Rijkaard, Ronald Koeman, Dennis Bergkamp, Marc Overmars, Danny Blind, Edwin van der Sar, and the twins Frank and Ronald de Boer. (Marco van Basten had already had to retire due to injury.)

* From the Round of 16: From Argentina: Diego Maradona (who ended up getting suspended for drugs), Gabriel Batistuta and Claudio Caniggia. From Ireland: Roy Keane, Paul McGrath, Ray Houghton, John Aldridge, Steve Staunton, Ronnie Whelan, Tony Cascarino and Packie Bonner. From Nigeria: Jay-Jay Okocha.

* From teams that didn't make it to the knockout round: Roger Milla from Cameroon, and Carlos Valderrama and his hair from Colombia.

* And from our own team, which did make it past the Group Stage for the 1st time since 1930: Alexi Lalas, Eric Wynalda, Cobi Jones, Marcelo Balboa, Paul Caligiuri and Jersey Boys Tony Meola, John Harkes, Tab Ramos and Claudio Reyna.

True, we got knocked out by Brazil, on home soil, on the 4th of July no less, at the old Stanford Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Palo Alto, California. And we wore horrid uniforms. But it was still a big boost for American soccer, just what the upcoming founding of Major League Soccer (MLS) needed going into 1996.

Certainly, we got the pageantry right. Having America play on the 4th of July worked out well, despite the loss. And the New York market got lucky, as 2 of the country's, and particularly the Tri-State Area's, biggest ethnic groups ended up having their ancestral homelands playing at the Meadowlands: The Republic of Ireland and Italy.

But, from the American perspective, the 2 worst things that could have happened did happen. Someone got killed. Not in the stadium, or in the streets; it wasn't a fight between hooligans. Not even in the country. After his own goal sent Colombia down to defeat against us, Andres Escobar went back home, and was shot and killed.

The other was that the Final ended scoreless. There were the 2 best teams in the world, Brazil and Italy, and, after a full 90 minutes, plus extra time making it 120 minutes, the final score was 0-0. Nil-nil. Nothing to nothing. Americans like scoring, and any American watching this Final, not knowing all that goes into a soccer game, would have found it boring as hell. It probably set American interest in the sport back several years.

Roberto Baggio blasted a penalty kick over the crossbar, and Brazil won. And Americans not already into soccer shrugged their shoulders, and either went back to watching baseball or began preparing for a new NFL season.

The 2026 World Cup was awarded jointly to all 3 North American nations: The United States, Canada (which has never hosted, and has only qualified once, in 1986), and Mexico (which hosted in 1970 and 1986). Most of the host stadiums from 1994 are unlikely to host again in 2026, since they've been replaced (in some cases, but new ones on the same site, as with Stanford, or next-door, as with the Meadowlands).

If Los Angeles gets the Final again, it won't be played at the Rose Bowl, even though it is still in use and still in good shape. It will probably go to the new SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, because of its retractable roof. If New York gets the Final, it will be at MetLife Stadium, Giants Stadium's replacement.

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July 17, 1994 was a Sunday. It was the off-season for the NFL, the NBA and the NHL. But, in addition to the World Cup Final, there was a full slate of Major League Baseball games played that day. It was, however, well past the age of Sunday doubleheaders:

* The New York Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners, 14-4 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Jim Leyritz hit 2 home runs, and Danny Tartabull added another, to make a winning pitcher out of Scott Kamieniecki. Tino Martinez hit one of the M's, and would be a big part of them driving the Yankees crazy in the 1995 Playoffs. But the Yankees traded for him, and he became a part of their next Dynasty.

* The New York Mets lost to the San Diego Padres, 10-1 at Shea Stadium.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 9-7 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Montreal Expos, 6-4 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

* The Houston Astros beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-0 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Florida Marlins, 2-1 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-2 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Reggie Sanders singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-2 at the new Comiskey Park in Chicago. (It is now named U.S. Cellular Field.)

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-3 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-1 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Texas Rangers, 3-1 at The Ballpark in Arlington, in the Dallas suburb of that name. (It is now named Globe Life Park.)

* The Colorado Rockies beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 10-6 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the California Angels, 10-5 at Anaheim Stadium in the Los Angeles suburb of that name. (It is now named Angel Stadium of Anaheim.)

* And the Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 4-3 at the Oakland Coliseum.