The U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team fired head coach Gregg Berhalter nine days after being ousted from the Copa América tournament.
Berhalter exits after two stints over five years, the first of which was reasonably successful, and the second making it clear that the program has stalled in progress.
As the team trudged toward an earlier-than-expected Copa América exit, fans chanted: “Fire Gregg!” At least two official U.S. supporters’ groups, the American Outlaws and Barra 76, soon called for Berhalter’s ouster.
Sporting Director Matt Crocker said Wednesday that the review considered not only the Copa América but the entirety of the past year. It was “not broad at all — specifically quite narrow,” he said, and the conclusion was clear: “benchmarks” hadn’t been met.
“There has been progress made,” Crocker told a small group of reporters Wednesday as U.S. Soccer announced the decision. “But now is the time to turn that progress into winning.”
With the 2026 World Cup 700 days away as of this writing, Crocker will start a worldwide search for Berhalter’s replacement. With the U.S. hosting World Cup 2026, getting this right is imperative.
The search, Crocker said, would be different from the two high-profile ones he led last year — one that landed on Berhalter, and one that wooed Emma Hayes to the U.S. Women’s National Team.
“I’m 12 months into the program now. I’ve been in the environment,” he said Wednesday. “I think I’m a lot clearer and a lot more confident in what I see. … I’m in a better place to have much more of a targeted search, where I’ll be more inclined to go hard and go early with specific candidates that I feel meet the criteria that we’re looking for.”
The USMNT has not announced an interim coach as of this writing.
