USMNT World Cup run will leave sour taste, massive expectations for 2026
Pro Soccer Wire’s Seth Vertelney breaks down the USMNT’s World Cup run and what the programs expectations will be heading into 2026.
USA TODAY
Anyone surprised, or angry, with the news Gregg Berhalter will return as coach of the U.S. men’s soccer team hasn’t been paying attention.
In the six months since the USMNT has been without a coach, numerous players have vouched for Berhalter, usually unbidden. That includes Walker Zimmerman, Timothy Weah and, perhaps most importantly, Christian Pulisic.
The general public can hate Berhalter’s substitution patterns — or lack thereof. Fans can criticize his game management. Some certain high-profile parents can think they’re entitled to act as if this is still the Under-9s, so incensed by their kid’s lack of playing time they take their gripes to the head of the organization.
None of that matters. What does, especially with a young team that will be playing a World Cup on home soil in 2026, is that the USMNT players like Berhalter and believe in his vision. And, regardless of how loudly fans shriek, they do.
“I think he should be considered,” Pulisic said last week when he was asked about Berhalther’s chances of returning. “I think he did a great job with the team. He brought us a long way. I think a lot of people, a lot of guys on the team especially, would agree with that.”
That’s no small endorsement, considering Pulisic is the best player the USMNT has right now and it’s not even close. He scored twice against Mexico in Thursday night’s 3-0 win that sent the USMNT into the Nations League final, and has officially replaced Landon Donovan in El Tri’s nightmares. It was his goal that sent the Americans into the knockout rounds at last year’s World Cup.
Pulisic’s list of superlatives is as long as his list of firsts by an American player. First American to play in a Champions League final, highest-priced transfer by an American player, youngest USMNT player to score in a World Cup qualifier — you get the idea. You think U.S. Soccer isn’t going to give considerable weight to who Pulisic wants as his coach?
“We’ve given our input as much as we can. It’s not our job as players to appoint a manager,” Pulisic said.
Sure. But Pulisic’s opinion, and that of many of his teammates, isn’t all that U.S. Soccer likely considered. If not for Claudio and Danielle Reyna’s abysmal, psycho soccer parent behavior, it’s likely U.S. Soccer would have reupped Berhalter after the World Cup.
The Athletic reported Thursday night U.S. Soccer will announce as early as Friday that Berhalter is being brought back as USMNT coach. U.S. Soccer did not respond to multiple requests for comment from USA TODAY Sports.
Was the USMNT outplayed by the Netherlands in the round of 16 in Qatar? Yes. But that tournament was the warm-up for the World Cup that really matters, the 2026 event that will be in the United States, Canada and Mexico and could propel soccer into NFL-like status in this country.
Qatar was meant to get the young players experience so they won’t be overwhelmed in 2026. So much the better if they’d made a deep run, but the focus was always on the future, to build a team that could both compete with the world’s best and appeal to the American public.
To that end, you cannot question the job Berhalter did. He convinced Yunus Musah, Sergiño Dest and Antonee Robinson to play for the United States, and laid the groundwork for Folarin Balogun to choose the USMNT. Musah and Balogun, in particular, are transcendent players, the kind who can transform a competitive team into a world beater.
Berhalter also instilled the team’s current culture, fostering a brotherhood that makes this team even more formidable on the field.
Berhalter’s critics will say culture is overrated or easy to create, but neither of those things are true. He took a group of teenagers, 20- and 30-somethings, players who came from all corners of the globe, with different backgrounds and different playing experiences, and turned them into a tight-knit team. Fantasy football, golf, field trips — Berhalter made sure his players enjoyed being with each other as much as they enjoyed playing with one another.
That matters, on the field and off.
There’s also something to be said for continuity. The USMNT has had five coaches, two in this year alone, since Jürgen Klinsmann was fired amidst the debacle that resulted in the Americans missing the 2018 World Cup.
“I’ve had quite a few managers in my time,” Pulisic said with a wry smile. “So I’ve dealt with change.”
Three years might seem like a long way off, but the 2026 World Cup will be here before you know it. Bringing in someone who might want to overhaul the USMNT’s playing style, change its personnel or revamp the way the team is structured is a bad idea this late in the game.
And contrary to the rumors about Pep Guardiola or Jose Mourinho, the USMNT was never going to get a coach like that. Not because it would create too big of a salary gap with USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski, like Charlie Davies suggested on the game broadcast Thursday, but because it would be too big of a stretch. On both sides.
Berhalter might not be the best coach out there. But for a variety of reasons, he’s the best coach for the USMNT right now.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on Twitter @nrarmour.
