U.S. men's soccer team coach Gregg Berhalter was fired on July 1 following the team's early exit from the Copa America tournament.
The 1-0 loss to Uruguay in Kansas City, Missouri, was particularly painful because the United States was hosting the tournament, which is usually held in South America, and it was the first time the host nation had failed to reach the knockout stages since the format was introduced in 1975.
“Our immediate focus is to find a coach who can maximize our potential as we continue to prepare for the 2026 World Cup, and we have already begun that search,” U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker said in a statement.
The firing was first reported by Fox Sports.
The United States is preparing to co-host the 2026 World Cup with Mexico and Canada, hoping to showcase the results of years of efforts to raise the quality of U.S. soccer to the same level as the powerhouses in Europe and South America. The U.S. has only made it past the round of 16 once in the modern version of the World Cup, when it reached the quarterfinals in 2002.
The 50-year-old Berhalter has been heavily criticized in his two stints as head coach of the men's national team since 2018. In addition to disappointing tournament results, including multiple failures to win the CONCACAF Gold Cup and the North American Championship, he has also been criticized for poor tactics and weak leadership.
The latter most recently drew attention for an incident that occurred during a scoreless game against Uruguay, in which he appeared to encourage his team by telling them that the U.S. could still advance to the next round if the result remained the same, since the other two teams in their group, Panama and Bolivia, had drawn their other game. Uruguay then scored and the U.S. was eliminated.
When asked in his post-game press conference if he was still the right man for the job, Berhalter said, “Yes.”
But the U.S. Soccer Federation didn't agree, and fired Berhalter just over a year after rehiring him to run the team.
It was hoped that the strong performance of the U.S. team, which features players with extensive European club experience such as Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie, would help boost Copa America ticket sales for the knockout stages in which the team competes, and that high-profile U.S. matchups against teams such as Brazil and Argentina could boost viewership for the tournament in a key market for soccer's global growth.
Berhalter was originally hired as head coach in 2018, but his contract expired at the end of 2022 and two interim managers served in his absence. Berhalter was rehired in June 2023, with Crocker citing Berhalter's “vision, experience and growth mindset on and off the field” as the reason for the decision at the time.
Crocker has since changed his tune and expressed disappointment with the team's performance.
“We have to try harder,” he said in a statement after the Uruguay match.
