By Far The Greatest Team Football Podcast
By Far The Greatest Team is a football history podcast dedicated to answering one timeless question:
Who is the greatest football team of all time?
From iconic dynasties and legendary tournament winners to cult heroes, forgotten giants, and teams that burned brightly for just a moment, By Far The Greatest Team dives deep into the stories that shaped football’s past — and debates where those teams truly belong in the game’s hierarchy.
Hosted by lifelong football obsessives, each episode blends deep historical research, tactical insight, and story-driven discussion to explore:
- Legendary club and international sides
- Iconic seasons, tournaments, and golden eras
- Tactical revolutions and defining moments
- Cultural impact, myth-making, and legacy
- Underdog stories that rewrote football history
At the heart of the podcast is a unique Greatness Ranking System, where teams are judged across multiple levels — from All-Time Greats and True Greats, to Cult Classics, Edge-of-Greatness teams, and those remembered through nostalgia, context, or controversy. Greatness isn’t just about trophies — it’s about impact, identity, and influence.
Whether it’s Brazil’s brilliance, a one-season wonder, a cup-run miracle, or a team that changed how football was played, every episode asks the same question — how great were they… really?
If you love football history, tactical debate, long-forgotten stories, and arguing about rankings in pubs, living rooms, or online forums — this is the podcast for you.
Whether you’re searching for a football history podcast, soccer history deep dives, greatest football teams of all time, classic football teams, or tactical and cultural analysis of football, By Far The Greatest Team delivers long-form storytelling, informed debate, and timeless football nostalgia. Covering club football and international tournaments, iconic managers and players, golden eras, forgotten greats, and controversial rankings, this podcast is essential listening for fans of the Premier League, World Cups, European football, and the global history of the beautiful game.
🎙️ Football’s greatest teams. Ranked.
One episode at a time.
By Far The Greatest Team Football Podcast
World Cup USA 1994
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How great was World Cup USA 1994 — and did it change football forever?
In a special change of direction for By Far The Greatest Team, Graham Dunn and Jamie Rooney step away from ranking a club or national team to debate the greatness of an entire tournament: World Cup USA 1994.
And who better to guide us through it than legendary US soccer writer Michael Lewis, a journalist who has covered World Cups since 1986 and witnessed first-hand the rise, fall and rebirth of soccer in America.
The 1994 World Cup arrived in the United States surrounded by scepticism. Could a country obsessed with NFL, baseball and basketball really host football’s greatest tournament? Would American crowds understand it? Would the world embrace a World Cup played in giant stadiums, under summer heat, in a nation still searching for its soccer identity?
The answer, as history now shows, was far bigger than anyone expected.
This episode explores how USA 94 became one of the most important World Cups in modern football history. From record-breaking attendances and packed stadiums to the commercial explosion that followed, the tournament helped prove that soccer could work in America. It laid the foundations for Major League Soccer, changed perceptions of the sport in the United States, and gave FIFA a glimpse of football’s huge commercial future.
But this was not just a business story. USA 94 gave us unforgettable football drama: Brazil’s fourth World Cup triumph, Romário and Bebeto, Roberto Baggio’s penalty heartbreak, Bulgaria’s golden run, Ireland shocking Italy, Maradona’s failed drugs test, the tragedy of Andrés Escobar, and a tournament that mixed sunshine, spectacle, controversy and genuine sporting greatness.
Graham, Jamie and Michael debate whether USA 1994 deserves to be remembered as a great World Cup, a commercially important World Cup, or one of the true turning points in football history.
And, of course, it all ends with the big question:
Where does World Cup USA 1994 rank in the Greatness Index of World Cup finals?
Takeaways
USA 94 changed soccer in America
The tournament helped shift soccer from a niche sport in the United States into something with mainstream potential.
It helped create Major League Soccer
The success of the World Cup directly contributed to the launch of MLS in 1996, giving American soccer a professional foundation.
It proved football could sell in the US
Huge crowds, major sponsorships and global attention showed FIFA the commercial power of the American market.
The tournament was packed with iconic moments
From Baggio’s missed penalty to Maradona’s exit, Brazil’s triumph and Bulgaria’s shock run, USA 94 delivered unforgettable stories.
Its legacy is still being felt today
With the World Cup returning to North America in 2026, the shadow of 1994 still hangs over the future of football in the United States.
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