when was soccer first introduced in the olympics
1900
title: History of the FIFA World Cup text: month), Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, with Germany pledging to join. As football began to increase in popularity, it was contested as an IOC-recognised Olympic sport at the 1900 and 1904 Summer Olympics, as well as at the 1906 Intercalated Games, before becoming an official FIFA-supervised Olympic competition at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Organised by England's Football Association, the event was for amateur players only and was regarded suspiciously as a show rather than a competition. The England national amateur football team won the event in both 1908 and 1912. There was an attempt made by FIFA to title: United States men's national soccer team text: In the semifinals, the United States upset top ranked Spain 2–0, to advance to the final. In the final, the United States lost 3–2 to Brazil. The U.S. men's soccer team have played in the Summer Olympics since 1924. From that tournament to 1980, only amateur and state-sponsored Eastern European players were allowed on Olympic teams. The Olympics became a full international tournament in 1984 after the IOC allowed full national teams from outside FIFA CONMEBOL & UEFA confederations. Ever since 1992 the men's Olympic event has been age-restricted, under 23 plus three overage players, and participation has been by title: History of soccer in the United States text: founded FIFA World Cup no official tournament was fielded in the 1932 Olympic Games . FIFA claimed the tournament would not be popular in the United States, so it would not be cost efficient to assist in the running of the tournament during struggling economic times. As a result, an informal tournament was organized including local rivals with the United States finishing first, followed by Mexico and Canada. The Olympic Tournament was reinstated in the 1936 Olympic Games. After the enthusiasm caused by the creation and rise of the North American Soccer League in the 1970s, it seemed as though title: History of soccer in the United States text: make the Olympic roster. At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, women's soccer was added for the first time. In the group stage of the tournament, the U.S. came away with two wins against Denmark and Sweden and a draw against China. In the semi-finals, the U.S. faced their long-time rival, Norway. While they fell behind in the first half, they were able to tie the game with a penalty shot late in the second half. During extra time, the U.S. scored, beating Norway to move on to the final. The U.S. team went against China in the Olympic final and title: History of soccer in the United States text: Baton Rouge, Louisiana to participate in the Olympic Sports Festival. At the end of the festival, Mike Ryan selected 17 players to play in a tournament in Italy. The players practiced for three days at the C.W. Post campus of Long Island University. They were issued men's practice uniforms and sewed the "USA" decal on the front of their shirts the night before they flew to Italy. The national team's matches against Italy were brutal and many criticized Ryan on his coaching ability. After the Italy trip, he was unceremoniously removed as national team coach and replaced by Anson Dorrance,