U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker is leaving his role with immediate effect, less than two months before the 2026 World Cup, the federation announced Tuesday.
The 51-year-old is set to take a up a new role with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF), as first reported by Fox.
In a statement, U.S. Soccer said that Crocker was leaving to “pursue another opportunity in international soccer”.
“It has been a privilege to be part of U.S. Soccer during such an important period for the sport in this country,” Crocker said. “I’m grateful for the people I’ve had the opportunity to work with across the Federation, from our coaches and players to our technical and administrative staff. I’m proud of what’s been built together and confident the team in place will continue to move the game forward and drive success on and off the field.”
The Athletic has approached U.S. Soccer and the SAFF for comment.
Crocker, a Welshman who’d previously worked at the English Football Association and at Southampton, took the U.S. job in 2023. He replaced Earnie Stewart, departed earlier that year to take over as PSV Eindhoven’s sporting director.
Crocker’s role at U.S. Soccer
Crocker frequently spoke about the role as a long-term one. Before he had even officially started working for U.S. Soccer full-time, Crocker was involved in the re-hiring of Gregg Berhalter as U.S. men’s national team coach. He then recruited Emma Hayes to become the U.S. women’s national team’s coach that fall. A year later, after Berhalter was fired, Crocker led the USMNT coaching search that landed on Mauricio Pochettino.
Behind the scenes, much of his work focused on player development and pathways. He was the mastermind behind and spokesman for the federation’s “U.S. Way” strategy, which he pitched to leagues and coaches at all levels of the American soccer ecosystem.
In an interview with The Athletic last month, though, Crocker expressed frustration with the slow pace of progress on the youth soccer front.
“It’s a bigger beast than I ever expected,” he said. “It’s so complex. It’s so political.
“It’s taken us a while for people within the system — important people who make decisions about the game — to start to believe and trust U.S. Soccer; [to trust] that we have the right people, that we’re building a robust plan that … involves collaboration and working together. … Maybe I underestimated how long that would take to begin to build that trust.
“I’m frustrated. I’m frustrated at the speed of change. But I’ve never worked in a country this size, with this level of complexity and cultural differences between states around how the game is governed and played.”
Crocker led the search which ended with the USMNT’s stunning appointment of Mauricio Pochettino as head coach (Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)
Crocker was among U.S. Soccer’s highest-paid employees. In the tax year ending March 31, 2025, the federation paid him more than any other non-coach. He received $658,787 in base compensation, $179,100 in bonuses and incentives, and a $152,905 “relocation payment.”
Crocker had moved from his previous home in the United Kingdom to Georgia, the site of U.S. Soccer’s new headquarters, during his second year in the role. And more recently, his family had moved with him.
He was around the USMNT during their recent training camp in Atlanta, and helped lead a tour of U.S. Soccer’s new national training center just a few weeks ago.
U.S. Soccer said that its new chief operating officer, Dan Helfrich, would “provide executive oversight and support across the Federation’s sporting operations.” Helfrich will work “closely” with assistant sporting director Oguchi Onyewu and women’s youth national team director Tracey Kevins, and with “the broader sporting leadership team,” U.S. Soccer said, to “ensure continuity.”
What this means for the USMNT’s World Cup
Analysis by senior soccer writers Paul Tenorio and Henry Bushnell
Practically, it should not mean much. U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino is the man leading the U.S. team, not Crocker, and there is a full-time staff running day-to-day operations for the team and tournament. Crocker has been around the team and was a valued member of the larger staff, but it is Pochettino making the most vital decisions.
“Everybody says that to me, ‘Oh, it must be a super busy period.’ … I’m like, No, I’ll be with the team (at the World Cup), but outside of training and breakfasts with Mauricio and the staff, and whatever they need me, for me, it’s business as usual,” Crocker told The Athletic recently. “Those guys have done all the planning. The planning’s done. You’ve gotta let it take shape. And hopefully, I’m not needed. I think the only time I’ll be needed is if things aren’t going too well.
“That’s why you appoint good people. You trust ’em to do the job. So, I’m there if they need me, but hopefully I won’t be needed.”
Still, it is a rough look for U.S. Soccer to see its sporting director depart the federation just weeks before the tournament starts — and for another federation that will be playing at the World Cup.
Crocker has been one of the faces and voices of U.S. Soccer. He is a touchpoint for many of the youth organizations that U.S. Soccer hopes this World Cup will reach and bring closer into an ecosystem that then develops better players. Crocker’s departure leaves a void, undoubtedly, for the federation in terms of a sporting-focused executive who can speak to U.S. Soccer’s goals coming out of this summer’s World Cup. Assistant sporting director Onyewu, a former U.S. national team defender, will likely now be tasked with that part of the job.
The impact will be felt in a more significant way beyond this summer’s World Cup. Crocker was a hugely respected sporting voice in the federation, and his hiring of Pochettino and Hayes was indicative of his ability to recruit top coaches and bring fresh ideas into U.S. Soccer.
