Seeing the large home crowds the Cosmos had drawn during the 1977 NASL season, the league awarded Soccer Bowl hosting duties to the club.

New England won the division on the NASL's total wins tiebreaker (19 to the Rowdies' 18), and relegated Tampa Bay to fourth place in the American Conference's playoff standings.

[8] A 24-6 record and a league-high 212 points led to a first-place finish in the National Conference Eastern Division as the team looked to become the first back-to-back champions in NASL history.

[11] Two shutout wins over the Portland Timbers in the National Conference championship allowed the Cosmos to become the only team in league history to play in the Soccer Bowl in their own stadium.

[14] Gardner would continue as the color analyst for ABC's coverage, while Miller would move on to a long career announcing Major League Baseball.

The Brazilian fired a low shot off of the Giants Stadium post and past Cosmos goalie Jack Brand to halve the deficit.

[18] Tueart closed out the scoring four minutes later by taking a pass from Werner Roth and sliding it past the diving DuBose for the final 3–1 margin.

[19] Dennis Tueart won Soccer Bowl MVP honors for his two-goal efforts, while Pino Wilson was named the defensive player of the game.