Originally Posted by
bonechilling
Even with soccer relegated to a third-tier sport in this country,
Depends on what you consider a sport. I'd say seventh tier at best, behind NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, NASCAR and PGA. And that's unfortunate, IMO.
America is still one of the most dominant soccer countries at the international competitive level.
If by this you mean, "one of the 30 best teams on Earth", yes. If you mean "able to qualify for the World Cup from a confederation which has exactly one other good team (Mexico)", you're right. But the USA would likely not qualify from any UEFA (Europe) group, and maybe not from CONMEBOL (South America. Ten nations hold a double round-robin), even though they generally receive 4.5 slots for the modern 32-team Cup.
In any case, they are not "one of the most dominant..." by any stretch of the imagination. Only Brasil, Germany, Argentina, Italy, France and maybe England on a good day have earned this rep... unless you're talking about women's football.
