1976 U.S.A. Bicentennial Cup Tournament

1976 U.S.A. Bicentennial Cup Tournament
Tournament details
Host country United States
Dates 23 May – 31 May
Teams 4 (from 3 confederations)
Venue(s) 6 (in 6 host cities)
Final positions
Champions  Brazil
Runners-up  England
Third place  Italy
Fourth place United States Team America
Tournament statistics
Matches played 6
Goals scored 21 (3.5 per match)
Top scorer(s) Brazil Gil
(4 goals)

The Bicentennial Cup Tournament was an international association football competition, which took place in May 1976 in the USA. The tournament featured several World Cup stars both past and future.

The tournament - which celebrated the 200th anniversary of the USA's Declaration of Independence - came about after England and Italy failed to qualify for the 1976 European Championship tournament. These two teams joined Brazil and Team America, a side composed of stars playing in the North American Soccer League, in a hugely entertaining tournament.

The U.S.A. team of the time was not developed enough to compete against sides as powerful as Brazil, Italy and England, and hence Team America, consisting of players of various nationalities drawn from North American Soccer League clubs, carried the U.S.A. banner in the tournament. Team America included players who had performed for other national teams, among them Pelé, Ramon Mifflin, Mike England, Giorgio Chinaglia and Bobby Moore.

The day after England played Team America, the Football Association, asked about the match's status, said it was regarded as "a training game" and that caps would not be awarded to the participating players. Accordingly, the FA does not include the match in its list of full internationals. The associations of both Brazil and Italy, on the other hand, listed their national sides' matches against Team America as full internationals. Matches against Team America would not meet the new standard FIFA set down in January, 2001 for official full internationals because they were not played between the selections of two FIFA country members. FIFA has retroactively removed the official status of matches involving other multinational all-star selections, including England's matches against the Rest of Europe and the Rest of the World (although the FA continues to recognise these as official internationals).

Brazil won the cup, winning all three of their games, while England came second, winning two and losing one; 1–0 against Brazil.

Results

May 23, 1976
Team America United States 04  Italy
Capello
Pulici
Graziani
Rocca
Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, Washington D.C.
Attendance: 33,4555

May 28, 1976
Team America United States 02  Brazil
Gil
Gil
Kingdome, Seattle, Washington

May 28, 1976
England  32  Italy
Mick Channon  46', 53'
Phil Thompson  48'
Graziani  14', 19'
Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York City
Attendance: 40,650

May 31, 1976
Brazil  41  Italy
Gil  28', 48'
Zico  76'
Roberto Dinamite  78'
Capello  2'
Yale Bowl, New Haven, Connecticut
Attendance: 36,096

Table

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Brazil 330071+66
2 England 320164+24
3 Italy 31027702
4United States Team America 300319−80

Top scorer

1976 U.S.A. Bicentennial Cup
Tournament Winners
Brazil
Brazil

External links