Top Moments in U.S. Men's Olympic Soccer Team History

The United States men's Olympic soccer team is set to play its first match at the Summer Games since 2008 when it begins competition in Group A against host nation France at 3 p.m. ET on Wednesday, July 24.

Before the teams debut, take a look back at some of the most important matches in the history of the Olympic men's national team, which dates back a century to the 1924 Games in Paris.

Since then, here are five memorable moments that have marked the United States at the Olympics:

United States 1, Estonia 0 – 1924 Summer Olympics, Paris

After a nine-day voyage on the United States Line liner AmericaThe American team landed in Cherbourg, France, on May 19.

Six days later, on May 25, in the USMNT's Olympic debut, the team recorded a 1–0 victory over Estonia at Pershing Stadium.

Central striker Andy Straden converted a penalty in the 15th minute, beating goalkeeper August Lass. Straden went on to score three times in four caps. Before the World Cup began, participation in the Olympics was considered a full cap.

Goalkeeper James Douglas kept a clean sheet.

In an article written for the Boston Globe on December 17, 1924, American manager George Collins praised Douglas.

“How talented this boy was!” he wrote. “His work was remarkable.”

L'Echo de Paris wrote about the United States: “These Americans are amazing sportsmen. They rarely play rugby or football at home, and yet they manage to rank among the best here.”

According to an Associated Press report, the United States had “a very difficult time defeating the Estonians, and spectators considered them lucky to win, as the Estonians outplayed them for most of the game.”

Bottom line: The United States won.

This tournament was a single-elimination tournament, years before the group stage was introduced. The Americans were eliminated in the second round, losing 3-0 to a legendary Uruguayan team. The South Americans not only won gold at this tournament, but also at the 1928 Summer Games in Amsterdam and the first-ever FIFA World Cup in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1930.

United States 3, Costa Rica 0 – 1984 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles

Incredibly, it took 60 years for the U.S. men's team to win another Olympic victory.

That's what happened on July 29, 1984, when captain Rick Davis scored twice and Jean Willrich added another goal en route to a 3-0 victory over the Ticos in Group D. The 78,265 people at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, California, were the largest crowd to see a soccer match in the United States. That number surpassed the record of 77,691 who saw the New York Cosmos beat the Fort Lauderdale Strikers 8-3 in the 1977 North American Soccer League playoffs.

Davis gave the hosts all the goal they needed, slotting a free-kick past goalkeeper Marco Rojas in the 23rd minute.

Willrich, a West German who became a U.S. citizen earlier this month through a special act of Congress so he could compete, doubled the lead in the 35th minute. After receiving a pass from Chico Borja, Willrich sent a left-footed shot into the right half.

Davis finished the game by converting a lob pass from substitute Jeff Hooker into a goal, scoring from close range in the 87th minute.

Goalkeeper David Brcic had to make just one save to complete the shutout.

“The United States not only scored three goals, we had the opportunity to score a lot more,” U.S. coach Aliks Panagoulias told the Los Angeles Times. “I think it's a great day for the United States.”

United States 2, Tunisia 0 – 1996 Summer Olympics, Atlanta

Despite the absence of midfielder Claudio Reyna, the United States proved they could still play attacking football. Facing elimination after losing to Argentina in their first match (3-1), they bounced back with a 2-0 victory over Tunisia in front of 45,687 fans at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama, on July 22, 1996.

The win was a complete surprise, with a late afternoon thunderstorm delaying the start of the match, two sending-offs, six yellow cards and a Tunisian player running with two yellow cards for two minutes midway through the second half. The result kept the Americans' chances of reaching the quarterfinals alive.

Jovan Kirovski fired a free kick from 23 yards over the defensive wall, past goalkeeper Chokri El Ourer into the top left corner for a 1-0 advantage in the 38th minute.

Brian Maisonneuve gave the Americans some breathing room in the 90th minute, heading in a cross from Alexi Lalas. Goalkeeper Kasey Keller kept the clean sheet.

As for the confusion that occurred during the match, referee Hugh Dallas had forgotten that he had given a yellow card to Ferid Chouchane in the 38th minute while he showed the card again to the Tunisian player in the 67th minute. Chouchane played with two yellow cards for 125 seconds until American coach Bruce Arena informed the fourth official of the oversight.

Arena gave a big boost to the result and the effort.

“It was a great performance by the American team,” he said. “We just wanted to be able to make the game in Washington worthwhile. Now the destiny is in our hands.”

The United States (1-1-1) would draw 1-1 with Portugal in the country's capital in their final group game on July 24.

United States 3, Kuwait 1 – 2000 Summer Olympics, Sydney

For the first time in 76 years, a U.S. men's team advanced to the knockout stages of the Summer Games after a 3-1 victory over Kuwait in the Group C final in Melbourne, Australia, on September 19, 2000. The Americans (1-0-2, 5 points) finished first in the group on goal difference (+2 to +1) over Cameroon (1-0-2). The Americans tied Cameroon 1-1 in the group stage, which went on to win the gold medal.

The United States won for only the fifth time in an Olympic competition and scored three goals for only the second time in the competition.

“That was one of the biggest moments,” said phenom Landon Donovan, then 18, who scored on a counterattack in the 88th minute. “We're playing with a lot of confidence.”

Dan Califf's header off a corner kick from defender Jeff Agoos beat goalkeeper Shehab Kanhone in the 40th minute, the highlight of a first half played in the rain. Agoos' throw-in then set up the second goal in the 63rd minute. Josh Wolff sent a long pass down the left wing to Chris Albright, who raced into the box and beat his opponent before scoring from a difficult angle.

Substitute Bader Najem scored for Kuwait in the 83rd minute, but Donovan restored the United States' two-goal lead five minutes later.

“I'm very proud to be a part of what they did,” U.S. coach Clive Charles said. “That's our biggest accomplishment. I'll be completely honest. We feel like we've played better in the last two games. We've been fortunate to score a couple of goals.”

United States 2, Japan 2 (5-4, PK) – 2000 Summer Olympics, Sydney

In an epic battle and dramatic ending, the surprising Americans combined cunning, courage, skill and a little luck to defeat a determined Japanese team and reach the medal round for the first time. The team played to a 2-2 draw before the Americans won 5-4 on penalties at Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide, Australia, on September 23, 2000.

The United States had many heroes, but without midfielder Peter Vagenas, who converted a 90th-minute penalty under pressure to force extra time, the Americans would not have been able to win.

The Americans overcame their deficit twice. Josh Wolff equalized with a 16-yard shot in the 68th minute after Atsushi Yanagisawa's six-yard header on the half-hour mark. He was also fouled for a penalty kick by Vagenas in the 90th minute, cancelling out Naohiro Takahara's six-yard goal in the 72nd minute.

In the penalty shootout, Vagenas saved the first American attempt, followed by Agoos, Donovan and Wolff. Sasha Victorine, who made her Olympic debut early in overtime, scored her team's goal to propel her team into the medal round. Goalkeeper Brad Friedel made no save when Hidetoshi Nakata hit the left post on Japan's fourth try.

“We met before the PK and said, ‘Relax, enjoy it, you’ll never get this opportunity again,’” Victorine said. “Anyway, it all went well.”

Friedel added: “It would be amazing if we won a medal. Once you're in the gold medal game, anything can happen.”