One of the biggest decisions in American soccer history—the hiring of the men’s national team coach ahead of the 2026 World Cup that’ll be played primarily in the U.S.—has been thrown into chaos by that most grassroots of soccer problems: angry parents.
Gregg Berhalter’s bizarre speech at a leadership conference concerning the team’s handling of an unhappy player during the recent World Cup, later identified as Gio Reyna, has exploded into a feud between two of the country’s most prominent soccer families, an independent investigation into Berhalter’s behavior while in college, the potential blackmail or harassment of other U.S. Soccer Federation personnel and an apparent delay in determining the next USMNT manager.
“Obviously, this is not a positive time for soccer in this country and for our men’s national team,” USSF president Cindy Parlow Cone said during a Wednesday conference call. “It’s a tough time for the families involved, and I’m just hopeful that we can find a resolution to this quickly and move forward with our men’s team as well as for U.S. Soccer in general.”
