The United States men’s national team returned to the California’s Bay Area for a World Cup game after 32 years, beating Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32 at Levi’s Stadium on Wednesday.
On July 4, 1994, the USMNT played against Brazil at Stanford Stadium, arguably one of the most significant matches in the history of the Stars and Stripes in the World Cup.
The host team had advanced third in its group with four points, after a 1-1 tie with Switzerland, a 2-1 win over Colombia and a 1-0 loss to Romania. The prize? A round-of-16 match against mighty Brazil, headlined by the attacking duo of Bebeto and Romario that would eventually help the verde amarela lift the cup.
MORE: 2026 men’s World Cup brackets and results
On that sunny day in Palo Alto, Brazil won 1-0 against the feisty Americans, but not before losing a player to a red card shortly before halftime. For 75 minutes, though, the country dreamt of performing well above expectations against the world’s best soccer team. “Team USA was 16 minutes shy of what might have become the greatest upset in World Cup history,” wrote Ann Killion for The Mercury News on July 5, 1994.
The sights and sounds of the World Cup, clad in red, white, blue, yellow and green, rang throughout the Bay Area during those summer days of 1994, when the South American team made Los Gatos its home and turned the South Bay town into a month-long samba party.
The Bay Area News Group spoke to a wide variety of eyewitnesses to the game, including neighbors, students, event organizers and USMNT player Cobi Jones, who made his first and only start at the 1994 World Cup against Brazil and went on to accumulate 164 caps with the national team during his prolific career.
Here is what people told us happened on that warm, sunny day in Palo Alto 32 years ago. These interviews have been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Days before the match
Ray Purpur, Stanford facilities: “I was in charge of all the facilities at Stanford and the event management. The most important piece of it was the turf. We worked diligently for the months ahead to make it perfect. So we had commencement at Stanford Stadium and then we had to turn right around and have six World Cup matches. There was a stage on it that didn’t do very well. It kind of killed some of the grass, but the grass came back.”
Steve Robertson, practice squad volunteer: “Probably three weeks before the World Cup had begun competition, I had the privilege of being able to participate in a few warm-up matches for a couple of teams that were participating that year. Santa Clara University was the host of the Brazil squad and I had the great fortune to be able to scrimmage against the Brazilian squad.”
Ray Purpur, Stanford facilities: “We had a Pepsi contract and the World Cup had a Coca-Cola contract. So we had to remove all the Pepsi cola vending machines, merchandisers, soda fountains and put them all in with Coke.”
Chris Newcomb, professional soccer juggler: “I was in my early 30s and a new father. I lived in Willow Glen at the time, but had devoted a lot of my time to becoming a professional soccer juggler. I ended up having my own little stage venue outside [Stanford] stadium for all the games. I would take Caltrain to the game and there’d be people already partying on the train and I had my big boombox where I played my mix tapes for all the shows I was doing. And I met people from all over the world that came up to me in between my little performances.”
Steve Robertson, practice squad volunteer: “I’m playing professionally in the United States, and you realize very quickly playing against World Cup squads that there is a much higher level of play in other parts of the world. Those scrimmages, even though there were restrictions, [the] level of skill, precision, speed of thought was at a much higher level than anything that I had experienced in the States. Romario and Bebeto sat out the scrimmage, [but] Ronaldo at 17 years old was someone that stuck out. He was the rare combination of strength, speed, and skill all wrapped up into one package. And Branco. I had the opportunity to go against him a couple of times and the first time I got by him and I think he underestimated that I had a little pace and the second time he made sure that I knew that.”
Cobi Jones, USMNT player: “I learned two days before I was playing, knowing that I was going to be a starter, that I’d be stepping out against some of the best players in the world. Everyone at this point had started believing in one another. We weren’t expected to get out of the group stage. So that was a huge accomplishment for us. After the Romania match, we were still kind of figuring it out. [Then] we found out that it was Brazil on the Fourth of July at Stanford. It was one of those things like, ‘My God, we got to play Brazil.” But then we said, ‘Hey, this is falling perfectly. It’s the Fourth of July, our country’s birthday celebration. We can make something magical happen. We were riding a little high at this point and thinking. ‘Why can’t we continue to do something magical? We already did something that wasn’t expected of us. Let’s go and try it again.’”
Stacey Kadden, ball girl: “I would have been a junior in high school and I wrote an essay and somehow qualified. I was a competitive soccer player. I probably, at that point, knew I was going to play Division I soccer at Sacramento State. I don’t remember what was in [the essay], but I assume it talked about my passion for soccer, my passion for wanting to be a part of this, and the fact that I was going to go on and play collegiately. So, I’m assuming all of that somehow tied together probably got me the spot [as a ball girl on the sideline].”
Cobi Jones, USMNT player: “It was a bit surreal, going into the whole situation. I remember getting up to the Stanford area and the hotel we were across the street. It was a nice hotel. I remember just walking around and us just talking about what is it going to be like the next day, because when you’re walking the streets, you saw a lot of the American fans, you saw a lot of the Brazilian fans. I remember going for a walk down the main street just to clear your mind a little bit and the rest of the time it was hanging out in the hotel because you didn’t want to get too caught up in everything else that was going on around it.”
July 4, 1994: Game day
Russ Call, stadium announcer: “My job was probably the easiest during the World Cup because the international protocol for an announcer is minimalist. It’s nothing like what we’re normally used to in the United States. My job was to read the sponsor mentions at the beginning of the game, welcome the fans once the pregame ceremony started, introduce the lineups, introduce the national anthem, and then I was almost done from there.”
Adam Elman, Stanford student: “I was aware [the World Cup] was coming. A bunch of friends were really into soccer and were very excited about the World Cup in general and about the fact that there was a game being hosted at Stanford. I was in the Stanford band and a small group of us were living on campus over the summer. And one of us hosted a little Fourth of July barbecue and game watching party at an apartment on campus and close to the stadium.”
“Amazing. But it was an amazing day all around. It started in the morning when Galvez Street outside the stadium was clogged with a parade of dancing fans, begun by Brazilians but joined by those wearing red white and blue. A joyous cacophony of beating drums and piercing whistles and chants of “Bra-sil” and “USA, USA.”
– The Mercury News, July 5, 1994
Cobi Jones, USMNT player: “It was a short bus ride from the hotel over to the stadium seeing the crowds and the support. And it didn’t fail to translate to the stadium. I remember getting to the stadium and we’re driving down and just saying, ‘This is the moment where we can really make something of ourselves if we’re able to accomplish the goal of winning this game.’ You would see the Brazilian fans with the samba drums and the traditional samba dress for the ladies with the feathers and everything. One of the great things about a World Cup is that you experience all the different cultures. And that’s exactly what was happening in that match.”
Sandy Del Rio, future samba teacher: “I was living in downtown Palo Alto paying $1,500 a month split between two roommates. I was 28 and working for a record label as a graphic designer. I didn’t even really know much about the World Cup. And my roommate, who was about my age, said, ‘The World Cup’s in town. Let’s go see.’ The stadium was close by and it wasn’t something that I had planned but was curious. When we went down University Avenue by the stadium we got intercepted with the party of Brazilians, a mob of dancing people with the samba and the drums and that was like nothing I had ever seen before in my life. It was so magical.”
Chris Newcomb, professional soccer juggler: “[The tent] was nothing super fancy or anything, but it attracted a lot of people. It was right under the big sign on El Camino. I went in pretty close to game time typically because they wanted me to keep doing my stuff and getting people hyped up. There were lots of Brazilians. A lot of guys wanted to jump in and juggle with me. I let them to a certain extent, but it was a little disruptive because I was trying to stay on a music beat, but it was super fun.”
Ray Purpur, Stanford facilities: “I had never seen 90, 85 thousand people in one spot together. It was an incredible sight to see. The fans were fantastic. I think that it was much different than a Stanford football game because Stanford does a lot of tailgating and a lot of drinking happens before the game. We did not serve alcohol. By the time people got here, wherever they were drinking wore off. We had a crowd that was more sober than others, but they had more fun because it was such a huge venue.”
Steve Robertson, practice squad volunteer: “I got to the stadium area probably four hours early and they had the World Cup village set up in a shopping center across the street from Stanford Stadium. What really struck me was the incredible energy of the Brazilian fans. At that point in my life I had not gone to South America. I had been to a game in Manchester, England and had experienced a level of enthusiasm around world football that I hadn’t seen in the United States. The Brazilian fans were boisterous, they were numerous, they were happy. They were the life of the party. And, could this small American team do the impossible and somehow upset the mighty Brazilians on the Fourth of July?”
Russ Call, announcer: “I reported early. The one thing about working for [World Cup venue director] Peter Bridgwater is that he had everything set in line. Everything was scripted. I arrived at the stadium two to three hours before kickoff and didn’t have much to do until I got copies of the lineups. I was on the third floor. When the gates opened, there were a lot of Brazilian fans and most of the banners that they brought in for that match were [about] gratitude to the Bay Area.”
Stacey Kadden, ball girl: “We had various attire we had to wear, all Adidas. Previous to that, we had done practice trial runs. So, I had already been to the stadium. I already knew where I was supposed to go to check in. We got fed great meals. It was really all about just getting ready for the game.”
Ray Purpur, Stanford facilities: “Outside of Stanford Stadium is very rural looking. It’s a forest and [fans] didn’t mind peeing outside all of the six matches because we didn’t have enough restrooms. We always knew that, especially with that crowd like that. So I think people just did what they had to do.”
Sandy Del Rio, future samba teacher: “We left the house at maybe 10 in the morning and then we probably came back to the house in the evening around 7 or 8. I am so glad that I stepped out of my house that day. I had studied different kinds of dancing before, but it was so energetic and everybody was so nice and having so much fun and so filled with music. Somebody put their hand out and I grabbed the hand and I went away in the mob. I stayed with them quite a ways down El Camino until somebody tried to kiss me and I thought, “OK, this music is nice, but I don’t need to be kissed.’”
12:30 p.m.: Game on
Russ Call, game announcer: “I started by introducing the Brazilian side first because they were the designated visiting team. And here’s the lineup for Brazil and nothing. I thought you at least get polite applause or a yay or something. There was nothing. Then they put the Stars and Stripes up there and the place exploded. It’s like, ‘Where did this come from?’ I could not hear myself. The crowd was so loud that I just went through all 11 names and Bora and it was like, ‘What just happened here?’”
Cobi Jones, USMNT player: “There’s a definite difference from knowing that you’re starting and prepping and moving up to it until you’ve actually put on the jersey and then you start walking out. That’s where you really start feeling it. You feel the intensity when you’re a group, you’re a team. It’s like you’re getting internally hyped up. You’re talking to each other, all the players are talking and giving words of encouragement to one another to get hyped up and ready for this match.”
Steve Robertson, practice squad volunteer: “It was just a warm day. But we expected that. So, it wasn’t unusual. And it wasn’t stiflingly hot to where it was going to curb my enthusiasm in any way. It was wonderful to see that type of international environment in my home area. Stanford Stadium is a pretty large open stadium and you walked in and you just saw a sea of red, white and blue fans with their faces painted and the American flags, but then you also saw a large section of folks in yellow and blue [for] the Brazilian fans.”
Cobi Jones, USMNT player: “There’s no Brazilian team. I’m towards the front of the line and I remember thinking, ‘Of course Brazil’s going to make us wait, they’re Brazil.’ So we’re sitting there getting hyped. And it was an intimidating factor, because they walked out pretty quietly. They were all holding hands as a statement of their unity as they walked out. And that was pretty impressive. Coming out from the tunnel, we heard a roar. There were so many more American fans there in the stands than the Brazilian fans. Seeing all the painted faces, all the flags, people just jumping up and down, everyone wearing the red, white and blue. It was so impressive.”
Steve Robertson, practice squad volunteer: “During the playing of the national anthem the jets flew over. Such a cool experience! With my dad having worked in the airline industry, I was always enamored by planes.“
Cobi Jones, USMNT player: “As a player, to be stepping out on the pitch against what’s considered one of the best teams in the world on the Fourth of July in a stadium where everyone’s red, white and blue. I remember the sense of pride and satisfaction.”
“During the game, destiny seemed to be on the U.S. side. The Brazilian players missed what appeared to be open shots. Twice the ball bounced off the U.S. goal post. Coach Bora Milutinovic’s strategy of packing the field with defenders, starting only one forward, seemed to be paying off. And, at the end of the first half, when Brazil defender Leonardo was sent off with a red card for a vicious elbow to the head of midfielder Tab Ramos, it seemed the momentum had settled in the U.S. corner.”
– The Mercury News, July 5, 1994
Steve Robertson, practice squad volunteer: “Brazil just had such an incredible mix of strong defense, but also the quality in the midfield and the attack to where they can hold the ball and they can impose their will on their opponent. So, I didn’t go into the game expecting that we were going to dominate the possession game. My hope was that we were going to be strong defensively and limit the number of quality chances that Brazil would get and maybe steal a goal or on a set piece or something along those lines. The first 20 minutes made me realize that it was going to be a really hard chore to break down the Brazilians.”
Cobi Jones, USMNT player: “We were under a bit of pressure from the Brazilian team with how well they held the ball. I still remember for me how much ground Dunga covered, just being that stalwart. Every time Romario or Bebeto got the ball, you could hear the crowd cheer like they were all expecting something amazing to happen. And for us, it was a little bit about weathering the storm, as any team will tell you. The first 15 minutes are the most important. We were playing defense most of the time. If you’re chasing and playing most of the game on defense, it mentally starts to sap your energy. That being said, 30 minutes in, we’re still OK, we’re still at the 0-0. So, we’re like, OK, we have accomplished the initial task: Don’t get scored on early. We were playing probably 11 in the box at times, but it was working and that’s what we had to do.”
Steve Robertson, practice squad volunteer: “It just felt to me that it was going to take something like a mistake from Brazil or some sort of set piece to really get a quality enough chance to potentially hurt their backline.”
An elbow to the face and a red card (min. 43)
Cobi Jones, USMNT player: “I’m on the opposite side of the field but you see [the elbow to Ramos’ face] and you’re not exactly sure what happened, but you see Tab crumble straight down and everyone starts running. I hear that it was an elbow to Tab’s head and then I’m thinking about what I saw and just seeing [Leonardo’s] arm flailing and Tab crumble to the ground and then he’s rolling on the ground. You’re just like, ‘It’s not good without a doubt.’ And obviously as we all found out about the fracture to his skull, it’s not good. And where he got him right in the temple area, was potentially deadly.”
Steve Robertson, practice squad volunteer: “When the referee gave Leonardo the red card, it was both shocking and, as an American fan, it was exciting because I thought, ‘We just saw this first half where Brazil, even though they hadn’t scored yet, they were holding to the possession.’ As a unit, we were having a hard time getting on the ball and when we did get on the ball, we were having a difficult time keeping the ball. So, I thought, this is our opportunity now. They’re a man down. Maybe we can change that dynamic, keep the ball, and get a little bit more confidence.”
“But Brazil’s loss of Leonardo was evened out because Ramos was too severely injured to come back. What was originally diagnosed as a concussion later was revealed to be a skull fracture. Already without star midfielder John Harkes, who was disqualified from the second-round match because of infractions in the first round, the United States lost its second key playmaker.”
– The Mercury News, July 5, 1994
Russ Call, announcer: “It’s like, OK, we’ve got this other shot now. We had the chance before, now they’re down a man. Maybe we have a better chance. But the optimistic feeling was still there. And the crowd was feeling this too, that maybe we can do this. Maybe there could be a miracle on grass to go with the miracle on ice.”
Chris Newcomb, professional soccer ball juggler: “The Brazilians were singing and bouncing the whole time and it was just electric. The mood changed a bit when Tab Ramos took a vicious elbow to the side of his head and fractured his skull. So that kind of changed the mood a little bit. Them going short-handed gave us a little more hope.”
Cobi Jones, USMNT player: “[During halftime] Bora gave us an idea that we had a chance in the game, especially now that we were a man up and [told us] how to try to impose a little bit more of our game. But it wasn’t a speech. [Bora told us] we have to be concentrated, we have to understand we are still playing against this Brazilian team and how can we capitalize on different areas of the field, push up a little bit more, get more into the attack and take advantage of set pieces whenever they may occur.”
The last 45 minutes
Russ Call, announcer: “The energy basically picked up where it left off. From our perspective, we’re just waiting for something to happen and reported it dutifully as it happened. I always like to work with windows open and so I can hear and draw the energy off of what’s happening in the house.”
Cobi Jones, USMNT player: “We’re competitive athletes, right? We’re thinking, OK, we’re a man up. We should be able to find a way to make something happen. But, I hate repeating this constantly, but this Brazilian team was very good, and let’s be honest, they were the better team. We started to have some opportunities, to get forward at least a little bit. Now, it wasn’t a consistent run. I’m not going to lie to everyone and say that, but we did create some chances.”
Steve Robertson, practice squad volunteer: “In the first 10 minutes I became worried because even though the Brazilian team was a man down, they were keeping as much or possibly even more possession than in the first half. It just seemed like we didn’t understand how to leverage the man advantage to really find the space on the field that we could provide pressure to them. But, hats off to Brazil. They made great adjustments.”
Brazil scores, finally (min. 72)
Cobi Jones, USMNT player: “It was those two hooking up, right? Romario to Bebeto. I believe Bebeto is running away from goal but just hits it and catches [goalkeeper] Tony [Meola] wrongfooted. It was a soft hit ball that found the back of the net because it was the placement that really threw everything off. And they created a ton of chances against us and it was finally that breaking point. That gave us a sense of urgency because there’s not a lot of time left. We were 18 minutes to being 0-0 with Brazil. It was more desperation to try to get the ball forward to be more attacking and create some chances for ourselves.”
Russ Call, announcer: “It was nice while it lasted. Maybe they’ll come back, but it was a little different after that point. They had the goal in hand and they knew how to put a game to bed, so they basically did that and without Tab Ramos in the lineup as well. That was a big hole in the United States attack and they never found a way to fill it.”
“And Brazil, even a man short, was too much to overcome. In the 74th minute, Romario brought the ball upfield and passed to Bebeto, who scored the goal. It was only the fourth goal the United States allowed in four games, something unimaginable four years ago in Italy, when the U.S. team gave up eight goals in three World Cup games.”
– The Mercury News, July 5, 1994
Stacey Kadden, ball girl: “I would have been pretty much right where their offense was coming in to score, lined up on that sideline, kind of right where that [goal-scoring] attack happened. It was our job to try to get the ball back in play for the players as fast as possible. It was exciting. Full of energy, for it was a great venue at the time. For me, it was just really cool to be a part of that experience being so young. I was so passionate about the sport.”
Steve Robertson, practice squad volunteer: “The last 18, 19 minutes I can’t recall their goalkeeper being challenged that much at all. It could have easily been 3, 4 nil and that would have been a fair result.”
Cobi Jones, USMNT player: “It might be a little disrespectful to say a tie would be an upset, but there is truth to it. Brazil was Brazil and this was a Brazilian team that was obviously the best in the world. The fact that a U.S. team that wasn’t supposed to get out of the first round had taken them to task for over 70 minutes, I’m sure there were a lot of Brazilian fans pulling their hair out in the stands. We did a very good job and it wasn’t the prettiest game, but it was a game that was tactically sound.”
After the game
Adam Elman, Stanford student: “We had been talking about ‘Wouldn’t it be fun to go and rally outside the stadium?’ And so, we went over to the band shack. We grabbed our instruments and walked about a block and a half down Galvez [Street] when the fans started coming out of the game, we started playing. There were only 10 or 15 of us and we were all of a sudden surrounded by celebrating Brazilians. At some point some of them were grabbing drums and playing along with us, which was a little bit scary, but overall it was just a really joyous and super fun experience.”
“The audience — all 84,147 of them, American and Brazilian alike — applauded back. They cheered the effort, the Cinderella story, the fact that Team USA was 16 minutes shy of what might have become the greatest upset in World Cup history.”
– The Mercury News on July 5, 1994
Cobi Jones, USMNT player: “We were all feeling proud because we had accomplished getting out of the group. We weren’t the first host nation to not make it out of the group, and that was one of the pressures that was on us. So, we got out of the group, and then we held ourselves well against a Brazilian team that was well known to be one of the best in the world. We were sending a statement that soccer within the United States is of a level that can compete internationally and that’s extremely important. [It was] July 4 and we had put on a good show for all the fans at the stadium but also in the U.S. and around the world.”
Adam Elman, Stanford student: “I was playing trombone and I don’t remember what were the songs we played, except for we definitely played “All Right Now,” which is sort of the band’s signature tune. And the cool thing about that was there’s this tradition from the last 40 years you’ll hear that on every repeat, the trombones play a little bit of a different thing. We call it a bone lick. And we had come up with one not that long before that was the Brazilian soccer cheer and that was the first time we played it in public and the Brazilian fans absolutely loved it.”
Cobi Jones, USMNT player: “After the game, we had a meal and it was near the stadium. I can’t remember exactly where it was, but we were all eating and Robin Williams was brought into the room with all of us and he was just saying that he was a huge fan and he loved what we did and he started telling a few jokes about the game and everything and we were all laughing. We’re all having a good time and I think that was just a great symbol of that journey and no better way to end it than with a comedic icon from the U.S. telling some jokes. It symbolized a lot. We had been together for over two years [and] had done well within the World Cup. And then at the end, someone like Robin Williams that was at the peak of his career showed that we had gone beyond just the soccer world.”
“A festive crowd of about 25,000 people — roughly equal to the entire population of Los Gatos — turned Santa Cruz Avenue into a giant samba line, dancing, drinking, blowing whistles and banging drums.”
– The Mercury News, July 5, 1994
Russ Call, announcer: “A lot of people wanted to take one last chance to go to Los Gatos and celebrate with the [Brazilian] team because it had become such a thing during the two weeks. They owned Los Gatos and people wanted to become a part of that. We kind of took them on as our home team. But [the USMNT] stood up to the best team in the world and gave their everything and played with them on the same level, which you could never say before.”
Steve Robertson, practice squad volunteer: “As a young 26-year-old single person from San Jose, I went straight to Los Gatos after that to party with the Brazilian fans because I had done that in one of the previous matches and just was blown away as to how much energy, how many of them traveled to Los Gatos to be near the team and how late they partied into the night. I was so struck by that energy and that enthusiasm that I planned a trip to Rio de Janeiro the following year. I fell in love with Brazilian culture, having played against their players, and having met a lot of people in Los Gatos.”
Sandy Del Rio, future Samba teacher: “After the game, I started studying samba, taking classes at least twice a week. I went to Brazil with the teacher for the first time in 2000 and I paraded there. I started studying with other teachers, too, in San Francisco and in Oakland. My whole life just turned to samba. It’s such a beautiful way of connecting with people on a deeper level and sharing experiences.”
Ray Purpur, Stanford facilities: “After the World Cup, we were more interested in hosting big events to make a name for ourselves. So, in ’99 we hosted the Women’s World Cup. And then we started in earnest trying to figure out how to rebuild Stanford Stadium. It’s too old. It’s too outdated. It was built in 1921. So we used the exact same footprint. The field is in the same place, but we tore out all the seating.”
— With reporting by Ann Killion, Paul Rogers, Mark Bousian and Holly Heyser.