U.S. Cup
| US Cup | |
|---|---|
| Status | cancelled |
| Genre | sporting event |
| Date(s) | mid-year |
| Frequency | biannual (men) annual (women) |
| Country | U.S. |
| Inaugurated | 1992 (men) 1995 (women) |
| Most recent | 2000 (men) 2002 (women) |
U.S. Cup (also known as the USA Cup, United States Cup and Nike U.S. Cup) was a soccer competition held annually in the United States from 1992 to 2000, except for the World Cup years of 1994 and 1998. The tournament, hosted by the United States Soccer Federation, was contested between the United States and three guest teams.
The cup was created to train the American soccer team and to popularize the sport in the US before the men's 1994 FIFA World Cup. Originally known as the U.S. Cup, the name was changed to the Nike U.S. Cup after Nike, Inc. signed a ten-year, $120 million contract with the United States Soccer Federation to sponsor the U.S. national teams in October 1997. As part of the contract, USSF added Nike's name to the U.S. Cup title.
In 1995, USSF added a women's competition which ran every year until 2002. The 2001 edition was abandoned after three matches due to the September 11 attacks.
The cup was traditionally played in a single round-robin format between the four participating national teams.
The 1999 edition of the men's and 2000 edition of the women's tournaments, were played in single elimination format. The first round was the semifinals. The losers of the semifinals played for third place, and the winners of the semifinals played the Final match.
Number of appearance excludes the abandoned 2001 edition.
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