It’s déjà vu with remarkable differences.

The one-year countdown to the 2026 World Cup has begun. 

We asked Tony Meola to reminisce about playing goalkeeper for the USA when it had one year left to prepare for the 1994 World Cup hosted in nine U.S. cities. 

And as he’s still in sport as a popular broadcaster, compare it to the present.

Bora Milutinovic, the Serb who became a famous coach in Mexico, guided Meola and Co. 

Now the Argentine Mauricio Pochettino is preparing the team for a home-soil World Cup. The latter isn’t with his squad nearly as much as Milutinovic, who ran a full-time camp in Mission Viejo, California. 

And in 1993, the USA played 34 games. From when Milutinovic took charge in 1991 to the World Cup kickoff, the USMNT played in 26 U.S. cities in 15 states.

“We went around the country, and we realized later that part of it was promoting the World Cup around the country,” Meola said. “But of course also trying to improve our group and get better.”

Hosting the 1994 World Cup was also meant to lead to the launch of a professional outdoor league. And when MLS launched in 1996, Meola and the 1994ers played key roles in its popularization.

On the eve of the 2026 World Cup one-year countdown, the current U.S. team suffered home losses to Turkey (2-1) and Switzerland (4-0).

Nine days before the one-year countdown to the 1994 World Cup, the USA hosted England.

The USA beat England, 2-0. A historic upset.

SOCCER AMERICA: Did you and your teammates know it was one year and about a week ahead of the 1994 World Cup kickoff when you beat England, 2-0?

TONY MEOLA: Oh yeah. We talked about it. We actually had an 18-month countdown, because Bora never let us forget how many days there were before the World Cup.

Bora, as much as he had that mad scientist aura about him, he was a detail guy.

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SA: The team’s 1993 record was 1-5-9 (W-L-T) before the win over England. But Bora emphasized the results weren’t important because it was a long-term project for the World Cup  …