<P> The United States men's national soccer team has played in several World Cup finals, with their best result occurring during their first appearance at the 1930 World Cup, when the United States finished in third place . After the 1950 World Cup, in which the United States upset England in group play 1--0, the U.S. was absent from the finals until 1990 . The United States has participated in every World Cup since 1990 until they failed to qualify for the 2018 competition after a loss to Trinidad and Tobago in 2017 . </P> <P> The World Cup is an international soccer competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body . The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946, due to World War II . The current format of the World Cup involves 32 teams competing for the title, at venues within the host nation (or nations) over a period of about a month . The World Cup finals is the most widely viewed sporting event in the world, with an estimated 715 million people watching the 2006 tournament final . </P>

When was the last time usa did not make the world cup