“Summer of ’94” charts the rise of soccer in the United States prior to the World Cup of 1994.

This outstanding 99-minute documentary about the origins of U.S. soccer had its World Premiere on March 14th at the Rollins Center as part of SXSW 2026. The documentary “reveals the wild rise of the U.S. Men’s National Team on the road to the 1994 World Cup.” One of the team members put it this way, “It was like a soccer version of Survivor.”

ORIGINS

The national soccer team in 1990 functioned like a club team without a league in which to play.  Soundly beaten by Czechoslovakia in 1990 by a score of five to zero, something had to be done to prevent a national embarrassment. The United States was to host the 1994 World Cup. Putting it diplomatically, the U.S. performance on the field was underwhelming. As one of the players said, “What if we fuck up soccer forever?”

HISTORY

No host nation had ever failed to advance through the first round, but the U.S. seemed to be a token competitor at best. Something had to be done. These pioneers of soccer—all now in the soccer Hall of Fame in the U.S and all interviewed in the film.— were the pioneers who turned soccer into the popular sport it is today.

Director Chad Walker of “Summer of ’94” documentary at SXSW 2026.

When the film opens, with footage of Ronald Reagan and Dan Rather putting soccer, as a sport, in perspective, it  was about as popular as badminton or bowling.  Coach Bora Milutinovic, a native of Yugoslavia who had coached the Mexican National team to sixth place in 1986 and in ninety days took Costa Rica into the second round in 1990 was hired to form a cohesive team from scratch. Mission Viejo, California. was selected as the training camp, with full-time residency for the players. The word went out. If you build it, they will come applies to this attempt to forge a national team out of raw talent, one that could be a worthy competitor at the World Cup in 1994.

MISSION VIEJO

When Bora came in, the soccer fields in Mission Viejo  weren’t ready. The changing room was located across a busy highway next to a Wienerschnitzel. No one seemed to know what was going on, least  of all the visionary coach.

His goal was to cut 40 players down to 22 players at the camp located one hour south of Los Angeles. Since the facility was far from ready, at first the players were told to run on the beach. This became a repetitive activity which one team member described as “Groundhog day every single day.” Later, he would come to realize that the constant running was “more about the mentality” than it was about fitness.

United States World Cup Team Coach Bora Milutinovic today.

Although Bora spoke five languages, he chose to use only Spanish, predominantly,  during training, which led to his assigning one of the bilingual players to translate for him to the others. Although also Bora spoke German, he refused to use it, because Nazis had swept into his home town and murdered his parents during WWII. He vowed never to speak German again and refused to discuss those war years on camera.

But Bora Milutinovic knew about team building and bonding and went on, later, to coach Nigeria and China, ending a career of having coached five different World Cup teams. One player summed up the team’s initial reaction to the coach by saying, “Who is this Mad Scientist who is coaching us?” But, later, the verdict is “I’ve learned never to question Bora.”

TRAINING

Coach Bora Milutinovic in 1990.

Milutinovic—who resembled a 70s era Jon Peters clone in the 1990s—seemed to want the team members to “find comfort in being uncomfortable.” With three players on the national roster from Kearny, New Jersey, (a town of 35,000 that was an early hotbed of soccer enthusiasm) players on the team tell their stories. The audience gets to appreciate how soccer in the United States grew exponentially over the past 36 years.

Coach Bora believed in playing against the best players in the world in order to improve, so the U.S. team played matches all across the world, including the Kremlin, the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, El Salvador, Japan, China, South Korea and Saudi Arabia. As one player remembers of the Saudi, Arabia experience, “Thousands of people who not only want you to fail, but want you to fail miserably.”

PROGRESS

Director of “Summer of ’94” Dave LaMattina.

In one memorable interview Coach Bora says, “We’re not doing well, but we’re going to be good.” He deals empathetically with the ACL/meniscus tear of Marcella Balboa, whose rehabilitation inspires the team. Coach refuses to cut him, despite his serious injury, but  he also must send four players home to trim the team to the 22 players allowed. The players hand England a loss in 1993—the first time since 1950. That gives them confidence after the losing years and the team now draws its three competitors to advance to the second round: the pairings for the World Cup.

For the U.S., the pairings for the World Cup are Switzerland, Romania and Colombia. Pele had picked Colombia to win the World Cup that year. The unexpected U.S. win on June 22, 1994 over Columbia, is said to be “One of the biggest sports upset in World Cup history. Period.”

OPENING OF 1994 WORLD CUP

The opening of the World Cup in 1994 took place in Chicago at Soldier Field.  Wikipedia tells us that, “It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States was chosen as the host by FIFA on July 4, 1988.

Despite soccer’s relative lack of popularity in the host nation, the tournament was the most financially successful in World Cup history. It broke tournament records with overall attendance of 3,587,538 and an average of 68,991 per game,[4] figures that stand unsurpassed as of 2022,[5] despite the expansion of the competition from 24 to 32 teams starting with the 1998 World Cup.

ON THE EVE OF THE WORLD CUP

1994 World Cup members who are featured in this documentary include Alexi Lalas, Cobi Jones, Tony Meola, Jeff Agoos, Marcelo Bilbao, Paul Caliguiri, Thomas Dooley, and Cocah Bora Milutinovic.

Also happening on June 17,th, 1994 was the O.J. car chase.  O.J. Simpson led police on a dramatic, low-speed pursuit in a white Ford Bronco across Southern California freeways for 90 full minutes.

The juxtaposition of O.J.’s chase with the opening of the World Cup meant that many of the players were also glued to their TV sets and did not get a good night’s sleep.

FINALE

The team went on to hand Colombia a loss (June 22, 1994) which “definitely sent a message about soccer in North America.” Although the ultimate winner of the World Cup that year was Brazil, notice had been served that soccer was a fast-growing sport in the United States of America. The United States could be a contender.

CONCLUSION

Alexi Lalas and teammates in “Summer of ’94.”

When I saw that Brian Grazer and Ron Howard executive produced this fast-paced upbeat documentary, directed by Dave LaMattina and Chad Walker, I knew it would be worth the watch; it definitely was. Just learning that the red-headed curly-haired star Alexi Lalas from Detroit went on to make six albums and tour with Hootie and the Blowfish was enough of a reason to enjoy this uplifting hour and a half.

Original music is by Ryan “Bullet” Shields, but let’s not under-estimate the effect of Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. Cinematography by John Rutland, Ronan Killeen, Dan Kerrigan and Jonathon Narducci was great and kudos to editor Billy McMillin.

If you are at SXSW and missed it on March 14th, it shows again on March 15 at the Alamo Lamar 6 at 2:30 and again at 9 p.m. at the AFS Cinema on March 18th. Soccer fans, in particular, but anyone who enjoys a riveting story, should check this one out. You won’t be disappointed!