Many who have never really cared for soccer were supporting their national team's participation in the Fédération Internationale de Football Association World Cup championship Thursday out of patriotism.
Winning a World Cup every four years is not meant to be easy. And while only 11 percent of Americans were excited about the June 12 - July 13 event in Brazil, the U.S. national team has been gaining new fans in South Florida.
After the U.S. vs. Germany game Thursday, some were confused. The U.S. soccer team had not scored one goal, but when the game ended everyone cheered.
That was because the team qualified to move forward in the multilayer tournament despite the loss due to points that were accumulated during the victory over Ghana and the tie with Portugal.
Here is a guide that may help patriots understand their team's journey:
The 32 national teams from around the world that classified to compete were placed in groups of four. FIFA labeled the groups A - H.
The United States was placed in Group G, which some fans nicknamed the Group of Death, because Germany, Portugal and Ghana have a history of being successful in the FIFA World Cup.
A: Brazil, Mexico, Croatia and Cameroon
B: Netherlands, Chile, Spain and Australia
C: Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast and Japan
D: Costa Rica, Uruguay, Italy and England
E: France, Switzerland, Ecuador and Honduras
F: Argentina, Nigeria, Bosnia and Iran
G: Germany, United States, Portugal and Ghana
H: Belgium, Algeria, Russia and Korea
For two weeks, the teams in each group competed against each other. The teams that win games score three points. Two teams were selected to qualify to move to the next phase.
The last games of Group G were Thursday. At 12 p.m., the U.S. played against Germany, and Portugal played against Ghana.
Although the U.S. lost against Germany 0-1 Thursday, Portugal did not have enough accumulated points to stand on second place with Germany, which had the most points.
U.S. Soccer team fans were happy, because Portugal and Ghana were out of the FIFA World Cup and they stood firm on second place.
The FIFA World Cup games of the second stage are among four groups and are meant to knockout opponents. The games are Saturday through Tuesday.
June 28 group: Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Uruguay.
June 29 group: Netherlands, Mexico, Croatia and Greece.
June 30 group: France, Nigeria, Germany and the Group H 2nd finalist.