Rutgers History in the World Cup
· Yahoo Sports
World Cup fever has been burning across America, with Rutgers getting in on the fun by playing host to the Senegal Men’s National team. However, this is not the first time Rutgers has had a significant connection to the World Cup. Throughout the years, the Rutgers soccer program, both on the men’s and women’s side, has had several players represent their home country and Rutgers University on one of the world’s biggest stages.
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In the 2023 Women’s World Cup, Rutgers had three total representatives, with only 10 other schools in the NCAA having more that year. Those representatives included US goalkeeper Casey Murphy, and Jamaica’s Tiernny Wiltshire and Chantelle Swaby. Swaby played at Rutgers from 2016 to 2019, along with Wiltshire, who played on the banks at the same time. Murphy played at Rutgers from 2014 to 2017.
Jonelle Filigno, who played at Rutgers from 2010-2013, also represented the program for Team Canada during the 2015 World Cup.
Carli Lloyd is arguably Rutgers most famous soccer alumna because of what she has been able to do on the national stage for the women’s team. Lloyd is a two-time FIFA World Player of the Year, two-time FIFA World Cup champion, and two-time Olympic gold medalist who is in both the Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame and the National Soccer Hall of Fame after being named a first ballot national hall of fame inductee in 2025. Her legendary hat trick in the 2015 FIFA World Cup Final was the first ever hat trick to be done in the women’s finals, and it played a major role in lifting the United States to a 5-2 victory over Japan. She was awarded the Golden Ball trophy for being the tournament’s best player.
On the men’s side of things, two former Scarlet Knights have competed in the World Cup at the senior level. These two are Alexi Lalas and Peter Vermes. Lalas played at Rutgers from 1988 to 1991, earning three All-American honors. He represented Rutgers on the men’s national team at the 1994 World Cup, where he was named an honorable mention all-star. Vermes played at Rutgers from 1985 to 1987 and was named a first-team all-American during his time at Rutgers. He started three matches for the US men’s national team at the 1990 World Cup in Italy.