51 days to the World Cup: Paul Caligiuri and the 'shot heard 'round the world' that ended a 40-year drought

The countdown to the 2026 World Cup is on! Each day ahead of the tournament’s return to North America, Yahoo Sports will highlight an insight or moment that showcases just how grand the world’s biggest sporting spectacle has become — even beyond the expanded field of this year’s global event.

Bob Gansler was so fearful of Trinidad & Tobago’s counterattack that he instructed midfielder Paul Caligiuri to stay back with a defensive mindset.

Caligiuri wanted to obey his manager’s directive, but when a T&T player approached him for a tackle as he was on the ball instinct took over. Not wanting to turn the ball over and allow the opponents to go the other way for a scoring opportunity, Caligiuri did a body feint to his right, caught the player off-balance as he took a touch to the left.

Now, Caligiuri had time and space just in front of the penalty arc. With no hesitation the California native fired a left-footed shot on the bounce with topspin.

T&T goalkeeper Michael Maurice, staring into the sun at Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain, dove to his left unsuccessfully. He would later attribute his delayed reaction to being obstructed by one of his own players and not seeing the moment Caligiuri struck the ball.

Caligiuri, who was playing in midfield after serving as a right back during camp, wasn’t certain his shot in the 31st minute would go in, but he knew he hit it good enough and it had a chance.

The soccer version of the “shot heard 'round the world” would give the United States a 1-0 win after they had to hang on for the final hour of the match.

The match, played on Nov. 19, 1989, was the final one for both teams in the CONCACAF Championship, which determined the region's qualification for the 1990 World Cup in Italy. The Soca Warriors only needed a draw to take the second and final qualifying spot. The U.S. had no other option but to win.

Those three secured points booked the U.S. a spot in the Italia ‘90 field and put them into the World Cup for the first time since 1950.

Caligiuri only scored five times in 110 appearances for the U.S. The Port of Spain goal was his second career international goal. His fourth came seven months later during the Americans' opening match of the 1990 World Cup, a 5-1 defeat to Czechoslovakia.

The U.S. would lose all three games in Italy, but 1990 was the start of a run of seven straight World Cup appearances.