U.S. Soccer director exits
U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker is leaving his post immediately to take a role in Saudi Arabia, a move announced on social channels today. (x.com) The departure was reported as an immediate exit rather than a phased transition in the social announcement. (x.com)
Matt Crocker left U.S. Soccer on Tuesday with immediate effect, ending the federation’s top sporting job less than two months before the 2026 men’s World Cup. (ussoccer.com) U.S. Soccer said on April 14 that Crocker is departing “to pursue another opportunity in international soccer,” and Fox Sports reported that the new job is a similar role with Saudi Arabia. (ussoccer.com) (foxsports.com) Chief operating officer Dan Helfrich will oversee sporting operations with assistant sporting director Oguchi Onyewu and women’s youth development head Tracey Kevins while the federation searches for a successor. Fox Sports reported that search is already underway. (ussoccer.com) (foxsports.com) The timing lands in the middle of U.S. Soccer’s final build toward a home World Cup. FIFA’s schedule has the 48-team tournament opening on June 11, 2026, and the United States playing Paraguay in Los Angeles on June 12. (fifa.com) (foxsports.com) U.S. Soccer said World Cup plans “have been long established” and will not change because of Crocker’s exit, with men’s coach Mauricio Pochettino and women’s coach Emma Hayes retaining full authority over tournament preparation. (ussoccer.com) Crocker arrived in 2023 as only the second sporting director in federation history. His job covered the sporting vision and performance strategy for all national teams, from the senior men’s and women’s sides to youth and extended national teams. (ussoccer.com) During that stretch, Crocker led the hires of Hayes and Pochettino, according to his U.S. Soccer biography. The federation credits Hayes with an Olympic gold medal in 2024 and says Crocker also helped shape the Arthur M. Blank National Training Center in Fayetteville, Georgia. (ussoccer.com 1) (ussoccer.com 2) The training center is due to open in May, giving U.S. Soccer a permanent home base for the first time in its 113-year history. The federation said Tuesday that the project is part of a record spending push tied to national teams, development programs and the 2026 and 2027 World Cups. (ussoccer.com 1) (ussoccer.com 2) Crocker’s exit also extends a pattern in the role. His predecessor, Earnie Stewart, left in 2023 for PSV Eindhoven, and Crocker was hired that April before starting full-time on August 2, 2023. (foxsports.com) (ussoccer.com) For now, U.S. Soccer is asking its existing leadership group to carry the handoff through the final weeks before kickoff. The federation’s public line is continuity; the calendar now gives it 59 days until the tournament opener on June 11. (ussoccer.com) (fifa.com)
