When the United States men’s national team takes the field next week against Serbia, with the squad to be announced at noon ET on Wednesday, it will officially open the 2026 World Cup cycle. Call it a soft launch.
The roster won’t look anything like the version that advanced from the group stage at the World Cup less than two months ago. It likely won’t resemble the team that gathers again in March for CONCACAF Nations League — or at any point ever again. As usual, this January gathering will serve as more of a glorified talent identification gathering.
In the past, though, the redeeming value for this camp has been for the head coach to get an up-close look at some players in the pool that he wouldn’t otherwise get to see during FIFA international breaks. Take January 2020, for example. Matt Turner, Brenden Aaronson and Jesus Ferreira all got called in without having previously made their international debut. The trio all made the World Cup team and featured, to varying degrees, in Qatar.
This time, it’s different. With an interim head coach, Anthony Hudson, at the wheel after Gregg Berhalter’s contract expired on Dec. 31, two friendly matches in Southern California — Serbia (Jan. 25), Colombia (Jan. 28) — will net very little for the direction of the program. It’s a holding pattern that will only end when a permanent head coach is hired.
Until that happens, not much else related to the team carries much relative intrigue. It’s even hard to undersell the importance of this hire. With the United States co-hosting the 2026 World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico and a clear expectation to field the most talented American team ever, it’s as pivotal a decision the U.S. Soccer Federation has ever been entrusted with.
So, when will that new hire come? That depends on several factors, starting with the calendar.
In a perfect world, the permanent coach would have been in place Jan. 1, but there’s a balance that’s important to navigate here. This camp doesn’t really matter — not in the broader picture. And neither does the CONCACAF Nations League in March, when the U.S. plays Grenada and El Salvador. It’s easy to defend the idea that it’s not mandatory to have the coach in place by this summer’s Gold Cup, either, but that seems like a good target to shoot for.
It comes after the European club season ends in May, which allows for a natural transition for a sitting coach at a club team there. That’s important because the little information available about the state of the coaching search indicates the federation has ambitious plans.
Two weeks ago, ESPN’s Julien Laurens reported Zinedine Zidane, the French legend who coached Real Madrid to three Champions League titles and won a World Cup as a player with France in 1998, was approached through his agent about the opening. While Zidane wasn’t interested, it shows the caliber of coach the USSF is, at a minimum, wanting to pursue. Of course, that doesn’t mean someone in that global tier will end up with the job.
While it’s fun to toss around names and discuss each possibility, it’s not necessarily an instructive exercise. There are too many possible qualified candidates to put together an exhaustive list. This is a better conversation to have in terms of profile, so let’s look at them in buckets.
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WEDNESDAY, JAN. 18 (all times ET)
• Athletic Club vs. Espanyol (2 p.m.)
• Leeds United vs. Cardiff City (2:40 p.m.)
• Levante vs. Atletico Madrid (3 p.m.)
THURSDAY, JAN. 19 (all times ET)
• Ceuta vs. FC Barcelona (2 p.m.)
• Villarreal vs. Real Madrid (3 p.m.)
FRIDAY, JAN. 20 (all times ET)
• RB Leipzig vs. Bayern Munich (2:25 p.m.)
• Mallorca vs. Celta de Vigo (3 p.m.)
• Burnley vs. West Bromwich Albion (3 p.m.)
Morocco coach Walid Regragui is a perfect case study in how nobody really knows anything. Prior to taking the Atlas Lions’ job just three months before the World Cup, he had only coached only domestically and in Qatar. The job he did leading Morocco to the semifinals (the first team from Africa to reach that stage) is the type of success the U.S. wants to replicate.
During Morocco’s run, Regragui took aim at those who believe only European coaches have what it takes to succeed at the sport’s highest levels. “Explain that to me. Explain this miracle,” said Regragui, defending African and Arabic coaches. “Experience? It doesn’t matter. It’s skills. It doesn’t matter your background, religiously speaking or culturally speaking or where you from. Skills are the only measure.”
The same concept applies to Americans and here, the candidate pool is easier to narrow down. A few possible candidates:
Jesse Marsch: Currently at Leeds United in the Premier League, he also briefly coached RB Leipzig in Germany and FC Salzburg in Austria, winning titles with the latter. It would come as a complete shock if Marsch’s career ends without ever coaching the national team.
For him, it’s about timing. Leeds are in the middle of their season, but Marsch finds himself on the hot seat as the club staves off relegation. There’s also the question of style. Is a high-pressing, up-tempo approach the most effective way to play in international tournaments?
Jim Curtin: The Curtin’s Philadelphia Union are coming off one of the best seasons in MLS history. They did it without a big budget, playing a style that seemingly would translate well to the national team.
Steve Cherundolo: LAFC just won the Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup double. Cherundolo spent his entire playing career in Germany, featuring in three World Cups over a 13-year international career. But prior to last year with LAFC, his only head coaching gigs were at the youth level in Germany and a year with the Las Vegas Lights, which operated as a development team for LAFC.
Brian Schmetzer: The Seattle Sounders are the model of sustained success in MLS, and Schmetzer is the face of that. He has reached the MLS Cup four times — winning twice — in seven years and led Seattle to the CONCACAF Champions League title.
