For the 1990 World Cup in Italy, two of the team's more experienced players, Rick Davis and Hugo Perez, were recovering from serious injuries and unavailable for selection, and manager Bob Gansler selected many inexperienced players and recent college graduates.
In the 1998 World Cup in France, the team lost all of their three group matches, 0-2 to Germany, 1-2 to Iran, and 0-1 to Yugoslavia, and so finished in last place in its group and 32nd in the field of 32.