Gregg Berhalter has had success as both a soccer player and manager in the United States. His last job was as head coach of the US men's national team.
Berhalter became the first American ever to manage a professional team in Europe when he was hired by Hammarby IF in Sweden.
In the US, he has worked as both an assistant and a manager in MLS. His brother Jay was the chief commercial officer of the United States Soccer Federation until 2020. One of his four kids, Sebastian, plays for the 2020 MLS Cup champions, the Columbus Crew.
Berhalter led the USA to success at the CONCACAF Nations League in 2021 and 2024, and won the Gold Cup in 2021.
In July 2024, Berhalter was sacked as USA head coach following their group-stage exit at the Copa America.
Berhalter grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey, and played youth soccer at Union County Sports Club. In high school at Saint Benedict's Preparatory School in Newark, NJ, one of his team-mates was future USMNT captain Claudio Reyna, whose son Gio now plays for Berhalter.
As a defender, Berhalter attended the University of North Carolina after high school, enrolling in 1991. He played at UNC for manager Elmar Bolowich for three seasons. In 1991, the Tar Heels won 15 out of 22 matches and reached the final 16 of the NCAA Soccer Tournament.
A year later, they returned to the ACC Tournament semi-finals but missed out on the NCAA Tournament, winning just nine out of 20 matches. In 1993, the Tar Heels won 13 out of 22 and made it back to the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament before losing.
In the summer of 1998, he signed with SC Cambuur Leeuwarden, staying in the Eredivisie. The newly-promoted Yellow-Blues finished in 15th place in 1998/99, but were relegated in 1999/2000. Berhalter played in 56 games for Cambuur Leeuwarden over the two seasons, scored two goals, and was twice named Club Player of the Year.
Berhalter moved to England in the summer of 2001, signing with Crystal Palace and playing in the English First Division, the second-highest league in the country. Berhalter played in 14 games for the Eagles with six starts. He scored one goal and picked up three yellow cards as Palace finished 10th.
Berhalter scored five goals in 2003/04 as he started 31 games for Energie. They just missed out on the promotion play-offs, finishing fourth. In 2004/05, they dropped to 14th and Berhalter scored just one goal in 26 starts.
He was named captain of Energie before the 2005/06 season. Berhalter started 31 games and scored three goals from the penalty spot as the team finished third. After earning promotion back to the Bundesliga, Berhalter signed with TSV 1860 Munchen. Overall, he made 111 league appearances with Energie and scored nine goals.
He played all 90 minutes in six straight games from April 25 to May 23 and in all 18 games from June 13 to the end of the regular season. Galaxy beat Chivas USA in the Western Conference semi-finals as Berhalter played all 180 minutes.
They shut out Houston 2-0 in the Western Conference finals and Berhalter scored his first MLS goal in the 103rd minute. The Galaxy lost in a penalty shoot-out to Real Salt Lake in the MLS Cup final.
In 2010, Berhalter played in 16 games in the regular season as the Galaxy won the Supporters' Shield. Over the season, they conceded just 26 goals, but were upset in the MLS Cup play-offs by FC Dallas in the Western Conference finals.
Berhalter's final professional season as a player was in 2011. He played in 10 games, starting eight times. His final appearance was on October 23 as he played the first half against Houston. The Galaxy won the Supporters' Shield and the MLS Cup, but Berhalter did not play in the play-offs.
On December 12, 2011, he was hired to manage Hammarby IF in Sweden, becoming the first American ever to manage a professional soccer team in Europe. Hammarby were in the Superettan, Sweden's second tier.
They won 13 times and finished with 49 points from 30 games in the 2012 season. The fourth-place finish left Hammarby seven points shy of the promotion play-offs. On July 24, 2013, with Hammarby in eighth place, Berhalter was sacked.
At the end of the 2013 season, the Columbus Crew hired Berhalter to be both their sporting director and manager. The 2014 Crew team made the MLS play-offs for the first time in three years. They finished third in the Eastern Conference but lost in the conference semi-finals to New England, 7-3 on aggregate.
The 2015 Crew team scored 58 goals, the second-most in the league, and finished second in the Eastern Conference. They beat Montreal Impact 4-3 on aggregate in the Eastern Conference semi-finals and were then victorious over the New York Red Bulls 2-1. The Crew hosted the 2015 MLS Cup final at Mapfre Stadium but lost 2-1 to the Portland Timbers.
In 2017, the Crew returned to the play-offs with a fifth-place finish in the Eastern Conference. They beat Atlanta United in a penalty shoot-out in the knockout round and took out NYCFC 4-3 on aggregate in the semi-finals. Their season ended with a 1-0 loss in the Eastern Conference finals against Toronto FC on November 29.
Berhalter led Columbus to the play-offs again in 2018 with a fifth-placed finish. They beat D.C. United in a knockout round shoot-out but lost to the Red Bulls 3-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals. The 3-0 away defeat on November 11 would be Berhalter's final game in charge of the Crew.
Berhalter was first called up as a player by the US national team in October 1994 and made his debut on October 15 against Saudi Arabia.
His first major international tournament was the 1995 Copa America as the US finished fourth. At the 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup, he started in a 3-0 group-stage win over Cuba but didn't play again in the tournament as the US upset Brazil 1-0 in the semi-finals and lost 1-0 to Mexico in the final. In 1999, the US finished third at the Confederations Cup with Berhalter leading the defence.
In 2000, Berhalter started five games in World Cup qualifying and played in two more in 2001. He was named in the 2002 World Cup squad but did not appear in the group stage. After Jeff Agoos was injured, Berhalter played all 90 minutes in the last-16 win over Mexico and the quarter-final loss to Germany.
He started two games at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup in France, playing against Turkey and Brazil. Berhalter started in a pair of World Cup qualifiers in October 2004 and played in five qualifiers in 2005.
Berhalter made the 2006 World Cup squad but didn't see the field as the US were eliminated in the group stage. Overall, he played in 44 games for the United States with no goals from his defensive position.
The US lost a pair of games leading up to the 2019 Gold Cup but swept through the group stage at the tournament with three clean sheets and 11 goals scored. In the quarter-finals, they beat Curacao 1-0 before overcoming Jamaica 3-1 in the semi-finals. The US lost the Gold Cup final 1-0 to Mexico on July 7, 2019.
Berhalter led the US into the CONCACAF Nations League in 2019. They beat Cuba 7-0 before being upset by Canada 2-0. A month later, they beat Canada 4-1 and Cuba 4-0 to advance to the Nations League semi-finals. This tournament was then suspended due to Covid-19.
The US beat Costa Rica in a friendly in February 2020 before Covid-19 shut down international play. They returned to action in November with a pair of friendlies in Europe, drawing 0-0 against Wales and beating Panama 6-2.
In June 2021, he led the US to the Nations League title against Mexico and beat their local rivals again at the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup in August.
Berhalter became the first American to play and coach at a World Cup when the USA secured qualification for the 2022 in Qatar.
The USA reached the last 16 of the 2022 World but were knocked out by the Netherlands 3-1, after the tournament Berhalter's contract end and he left his role.
But in June 2023, Berhalter returned as head coach in a bid to guide the nation through to the 2026 World Cup which they would co-host.
He guided them to more CONCACAF Nations League success as the USA won it for a third consecutive time in March 2024, beating Mexico 2-0 in the final.
However, it all went wrong at the 2024 Copa America and on July 11, 2024, Berhalter was sacked following USA's group-stage exit which included defeats to Panama and Uruguay on home soil.
“I want to thank Gregg for his hard work and dedication to US Soccer and our men’s national team,” said US Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone.
“We are now focused on working with our sporting director Matt Crocker and leveraging his experience at the highest levels of the sport to ensure we find the right person to lead the USMNT into a new era of on-field success.”
Berhalter lives in Chicago with his wife, Rosalind. They have four children and their son Sebastian currently plays for the Columbus Crew. Berhalter is the godson of Boston Red Sox legend and baseball Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski.
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