Johnson received his first cap and scored his first goal for the senior United States team against El Salvador on October 9, 2004, becoming one of a small group of American players to get his first international goal in a World Cup qualifier. He then scored a hat-trick in his second appearance four days later, all within a seventeen-minute spree against Panama. On March 30, 2005, Johnson scored the game-winning goal in another qualifying match against Guatemala. He totaled seven goals in his first six World Cup qualifiers which placed him third on the U.S. all-time scoring list in World Cup qualifiers.