Gregg Berhalter Returns as USMNT HC on New Contract Through 2026 World Cup

Gregg Berhalter will return as coach of the U.S. men's national team through the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the team announced Friday.

The Athletic's Paul Tenorio first reported the deal was nearing completion on Thursday night.

Berhalter managed the USMNT from 2019 to 2022, a span during which the team won the Gold Cup and Concacaf Nations League and made the Round of 16 in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Berhalter had also been approached for managerial jobs with Dutch club Sparta Rotterdam and Mexico City-based Club América, per ESPN's Jeff Carlisle. The deal has yet to be finalized, but the former coach's return to the USMNT is "imminent," Tenorio reported.

Berhalter's last national team contract expired on December 31, according to ESPN.

His potential to return to the USMNT appeared in flux when U.S. Soccer announced in January they had hired a law firm to investigate an alleged incident of domestic violence involving Berhalter and his longtime partner, Rosalind, in 1992.

In a joint statement shared on Twitter, Berhalter and Rosalind said the investigation had been started by an individual contacting U.S. soccer in an effort to "take [Berhalter] down." Jeff Carlisle and Kyle Bonagura reported for ESPN that the individual was Danielle Reyna, mother of USMNT player Gio Reyna and wife of Claudio Reyna, Berhalter's former teammate.

In March, U.S. Soccer said they had concluded their investigation and found Berhalter and Rosalinda had described the incident accurately, and Berhalter had taken responsibility for the alleged assault. The report concluded that there was "a need to revisit U.S. Soccer's policies concerning appropriate parental conduct and communications with staff at the National Team level."

Berhalter won his coaching debut, a 3-0 friendly win over Panama in Glendale, Arizona in January 2019, and went on to become the second-fastest coach in USMNT history to reach 10 wins with the team. He holds a 37-11-12 record as USMNT coach, the highest win percentage in the team's history, per Tenorio.

U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker interviewed over ten candidates for the job before landing on Berhalter, Yahoo Sports' Henry Bushnell reported.