Former USA international DaMarcus Beasley discusses his fondest World Cup memories, 2026 and Houston as a host city.
- Beasley is the only USA player to have competed in four FIFA World Cups
- The former Houston Dynamo man helped bring World Cup 26 to the Texas city
- His fondest memories of the tournament are from USA’s 2002 quarter-final run
An inflection point for football in the USA came in 1989 when the national team qualified for the FIFA World Cup Italy 1990™, snapping a 40-year drought. Since then, outside of Russia 2018, the country has reached every global showcase.
Many American players have made a name for themselves on the international scene in that time, but only one has had the distinction of competing in four World Cups: DaMarcus Beasley.
From USA’s opening match against Portugal in Korea/Japan 2002 to the Round-of-16 defeat to Belgium at Brazil 2014, the native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, figured largely for the Stars and Stripes at the World Cup, while amassing a stunning 126 caps in a storied international career.
The final chapter of Beasley’s time as a player came in Major League Soccer (MLS) with the Houston Dynamo in a city he still holds close to his heart. It only made sense then for Houston to include Beasley in their effort to become a host city for the FIFA World Cup 26™, and just as he did as a player, Beasley delivered, helping the Texas metropolis land seven matches for next year’s tournament.
In a recent conversation with FIFA, Beasley spoke about the impact of the global showpiece returning to the USA for the first time since 1994, why Houston will be a great host city, and his fondest memories as a player in the tournament.
FIFA: What kind of impact do you think the World Cup 26 will have on the country?
DaMarcus Beasley: I think it could be great. You look at MLS now and how much it has grown. Most clubs in MLS have their own stadiums, training facilities; they’re spending more money. I think it could be something incredible and really special for whatever happens after the World Cup in 2026.
I’m excited for the future. I do think this World Cup next year can be huge for fans, for viewers, for non-football fans to get involved in the game and maybe fall in love with something that they see at the World Cup. Whether that’s an event that they go to in their home city, or if it’s a game, or any experience that they take from the World Cup being in the United States. I think that’s a win for us.
What’s going to make Houston such a fantastic host city?
It’s just everything that you would want in a football city. Houston has different ethnicities, different food… There’s so many pockets of different cultures in the city, and it is a huge footballing city. You look at any time that teams come to Houston and play, whether it’s the Dynamo in their stadium, or at [Houston Stadium] where the [Houston] Texans [of the NFL] play, it’s sold out. People from Houston love the sport and celebrating the game together.
I think Houston has a lot to offer outside of the game as well. It’s a wonderful city to live in. I still live there and have my house there. It’s a city that’s grown on me. I’ve been there 11 years, even though I’ve been retired for, what, five years, six years now. I still consider Houston my home, and that has to do with the people that I surround myself with. The food, the people. It’s just a really great city in which everyone helps each other out, and I think that’s really beautiful.
What are some of your best memories from when you played in a World Cup?
Well, one is easy. I would say my first match, which was our first match against Portugal in 2002. That memory will stick with me forever. Being in that tunnel with my best friend Landon Donovan, I couldn’t have written it any better. I still get goosebumps even talking about it.
Walking out with our squad and seeing the likes of [Luis] Figo. I mean, you’re talking to a kid that is from Fort Wayne that didn’t have a lot of access to games and European players. MLS was, I think, at 12 teams, so you didn’t see stars like that every day. I’m in a World Cup match, I’m standing next to Figo, and Rui Costa, and [Sergio] Conceicao…. I’ll never forget that feeling.
I was nervous… I can talk for hours about the rest of the squad, but with me and Landon being the two young guys on the team, and starting together, and going through that together, that gave me confidence. That was a hell of a Portugal team, and then we beat them. That was icing on the cake. I had made my day when I was in the starting line-up, and I’m standing there about to walk out from my first ever World Cup match. That was it for me, you know? I was like, ‘OK, it can’t get any better than this.’ But on top of that, we won.
To be honest, there wasn’t a lot of pressure on us from a media aspect. France ‘98 didn’t go well, so there weren’t any real expectations or high hopes. We didn’t feel the pressure from the media at that time, so it was just about us in that locker room, our fans, our family, and it was great to be able to go out there and win our first World Cup match together.
Can you believe that was 23 years ago?
I can’t…. In all honesty, it gave me goosebumps just talking about it just now. I very rarely talk about my career or anything like that. I don’t really do a lot of interviews anyway, so I never had a real chance to kind of relive some of those moments. Just sitting here talking to you about that moment playing against Portugal just gave me goosebumps. So, yeah man, that was a pretty cool experience for me and something that I’ll never forget for sure. My family was in the crowd, so I’m sure for my parents to see their son be on that world stage and accomplish the dream that he’s had for a long time, I know that they were very proud of me.
What’s another fond World Cup memory?
I’m going to stay with the same World Cup and a game I didn’t even play in. The game against Mexico. I was on the bench. I had some injury problems, but I was ready to play, but Bruce [Arena] didn’t use me, which was fine. It wasn’t a friendly. It wasn’t a Gold Cup. It wasn’t a qualifier. This was the World Cup. To be able to say that we beat Mexico in a World Cup match to get to the quarter-finals will always be a special moment. We’ll always have that. Always. They can never say they beat us when it really mattered in a World Cup.
You’re the only USA player to have played in four World Cups. What does that mean to you on a personal level?
It makes me feel proud of where I’ve come from. The people before me, my family, what they’ve sacrificed to get me to this point. Even now that I’m 43, to say that I represented my family the best way I knew how and could in the sport that I love the most is special. I don’t take any of that for granted. I had a lot of help along the way to get me to where I was to be able to play in four World Cups. I had some good moments in my career, some bad moments in my career.
Right before that 2010 World Cup, a lot of people, maybe even myself, wrote me off that I wasn’t going to make the national team anymore. I remember that. I had a lot of support at that time from my family to get me back to where I knew I could be. I’m really, really proud of what I was able to accomplish in a USA shirt. Like I said, being able to play in four World Cups, almost five. I did five World Cup cycles, which is crazy.
I look back and I’m just super, super proud of everyone that helped me get to that point. I’m proud of myself. I’m proud of the people that sacrificed for me to get to where I was at that time. I don’t talk a lot. I keep things to myself and just let it be, but I’m really proud of what I’ve accomplished with US Soccer. That will always be the highlight of my career. Nothing can compare to that. Nothing. And to be able to do that four times at a World Cup is truly special.
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