USMNT: Number of Caps for World Cup Openers (1990-2010)

Looking at the opening games of the World Cup for the USA in each of the past six tournaments, here's how many caps the entire team had at that moment: Caps Avg Median 1990 297 27.00 29 1994 549 49.91 46 1998 548 49.82 49 2002 539 49.00 41 2006 730 66.36 71 2010 562 51.09 52 2006 stands out, while it's interesting to see how similar 1994, 1998, 2002, and 2010 are. I wouldn't have expected the 2010 lineup to be the second most experienced. Here's the individual lineups with cap totals (as of those matches): 1990 vs Czechoslovakia Mike Windischmann 43 Bruce Murray 39 Paul Caligiuri 34 John Harkes 30 Steve Trittschuh 30 John Stollmeyer 29 Tab Ramos 24 Peter Vermes 21 Tony Meola 18 Desmond Armstrong 15 Eric Wynalda 14 1994 vs Switzerland Marcelo Balboa 88 Tony Meola 84 Paul Caligiuri 80 Eric Wynalda 53 Tab Ramos 47 John Harkes 46 Alexi Lalas 45 Thomas Dooley 40 Mike Sorber 37 Earnie Stewart 17 Cle Kooiman 12 1998 vs Germany Cobi Jones 108 Eric Wynalda 100 Thomas Dooley 78 Mike Burns 74 Claudio Reyna 60 Earnie Stewart 49 Kasey Keller 33 Eddie Pope 24 Chad Deering 11 Brian Maisonneuve 8 David Regis 3 2002 vs Portugal Jeff Agoos 131 Earnie Stewart 81 Brad Friedel 77 Brian McBride 61 Eddie Pope 51 Frankie Hejduk 41 Tony Sanneh 33 Landon Donovan 24 John O'Brien 16 DaMarcus Beasley 13 Pablo Mastroeni 11 2006 vs Czech Republic Claudio Reyna 110 Kasey Keller 94 Brian McBride 93 Landon Donovan 82 Eddie Pope 81 Eddie Lewis 71 DaMarcus Beasley 59 Pablo Mastroeni 49 Bobby Convey 40 Steve Cherundolo 36 Oguchi Onyewu 15 2010 vs England Landon Donovan 124 Carlos Bocanegra 80 Clint Dempsey 63 Steve Cherundolo 61 Oguchi Onyewu 55 Tim Howard 52 Michael Bradley 44 Ricardo Clark 30 Jozy Altidore 26 Jay DeMerit 20 Robbie Findley 7 The ten most capped players: 1 2002 Jeff Agoos 131 2 2010 Landon Donovan 124 3 2006 Claudio Reyna 110 4 1998 Cobi Jones 108 5 1998 Eric Wynalda 100 6 2006 Kasey Keller 94 7 2006 Brian McBride 93 8 1994 Marcelo Balboa 88 9 1994 Tony Meola 84 10 2006 Landon Donovan 82 The ten least capped players: 1 1998 David Regis 3 2 2010 Robbie Findley 7 3 1998 Brian Maisonneuve 8 4 1998 Chad Deering 11 4 2002 Pablo Mastroeni 11 6 1994 Cle Kooiman 12 7 2002 DaMarcus Beasley 13 8 1990 Eric Wynalda 14 9 1990 Desmond Armstrong 15 9 2006 Oguchi Onyewu 15