{"id":603680,"date":"2026-04-14T15:47:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T15:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/603680\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T15:47:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T15:47:12","slug":"u-s-soccer-sporting-director-matt-crocker-to-leave-federation-set-for-saudi-arabia-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/603680\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker to leave federation, set for Saudi Arabia role"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

In a statement, U.S. Soccer said that Crocker was leaving to \u201cpursue another opportunity in international soccer\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been a privilege to be part of U.S. Soccer during such an important period for the sport in this country,\u201d Crocker said<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m grateful for the people I\u2019ve had the opportunity to work with across the Federation, from our coaches and players to our technical and administrative staff. I\u2019m proud of what\u2019s been built together and confident the team in place will continue to move the game forward and drive success on and off the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Athletic has approached U.S. Soccer and the SAFF for comment.<\/p>\n

Crocker, a Welshman who\u2019d 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\u2019s sporting director.<\/p>\n

Crocker\u2019s role at U.S. Soccer<\/p>\n

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\u2019s national team coach. He then recruited Emma Hayes to become the U.S. women\u2019s national team\u2019s coach that fall. A year later, after Berhalter was fired, Crocker led the USMNT coaching search that landed on Mauricio Pochettino.<\/p>\n

Behind the scenes, much of his work focused on player development and pathways. He was the mastermind behind and spokesman for the federation\u2019s \u201cU.S. Way\u201d strategy<\/a>, which he pitched to leagues and coaches at all levels of the American soccer ecosystem.<\/p>\n

In an interview with The Athletic last month, though, Crocker expressed frustration with the slow pace of progress on the youth soccer front.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bigger beast than I ever expected,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s so complex. It\u2019s so political.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s taken us a while for people within the system \u2014 important people who make decisions about the game \u2014 to start to believe and trust U.S. Soccer; [to trust] that we have the right people, that we\u2019re building a robust plan that \u2026 involves collaboration and working together. \u2026 Maybe I underestimated how long that would take to begin to build that trust.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m frustrated. I\u2019m frustrated at the speed of change. But I\u2019ve 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"USMNT<\/p>\n

\n Crocker led the search which ended with the USMNT\u2019s stunning appointment of Mauricio Pochettino as head coach (Jamie Sabau\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Crocker was among U.S. Soccer\u2019s highest-paid employees<\/a>. 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 \u201crelocation payment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crocker had moved from his previous home in the United Kingdom to Georgia, the site of U.S. Soccer\u2019s new headquarters, during his second year in the role. And more recently, his family had moved with him.<\/p>\n

He was around the USMNT during their recent training camp in Atlanta, and helped lead a tour of U.S. Soccer\u2019s new national training center just a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n

U.S. Soccer said that its new chief operating officer, Dan Helfrich, would \u201cprovide executive oversight and support across the Federation\u2019s sporting operations.\u201d Helfrich will work \u201cclosely\u201d with assistant sporting director Oguchi Onyewu and women\u2019s youth national team director Tracey Kevins, and with \u201cthe broader sporting leadership team,\u201d U.S. Soccer said, to \u201censure continuity.\u201d<\/p>\n

What this means for the USMNT\u2019s World Cup<\/p>\n

Analysis by senior soccer writers Paul Tenorio and Henry Bushnell<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody says that to me, \u2018Oh, it must be a super busy period.\u2019 \u2026 I\u2019m like, No, I\u2019ll 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\u2019s business as usual,\u201d Crocker told The Athletic recently. \u201cThose guys have done all the planning. The planning\u2019s done. You\u2019ve gotta let it take shape. And hopefully, I\u2019m not needed. I think the only time I\u2019ll be needed is if things aren\u2019t going too well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why you appoint good people. You trust \u2019em to do the job. So, I\u2019m there if they need me, but hopefully I won\u2019t be needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, it is a rough look for U.S. Soccer to see its sporting director depart the federation just weeks before the tournament starts \u2014 and for another federation that will be playing at the World Cup.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s departure leaves a void, undoubtedly, for the federation in terms of a sporting-focused executive who can speak to U.S. Soccer\u2019s goals coming out of this summer\u2019s World Cup. Assistant sporting director Onyewu, a former U.S. national team defender, will likely now be tasked with that part of the job.<\/p>\n

The impact will be felt in a more significant way beyond this summer\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker is leaving his role with immediate effect, less than two months before…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":603681,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,103818,571,561,82,133140],"class_list":{"0":"post-603680","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-fifa-mens-world-cup","11":"tag-international-football","12":"tag-soccer","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-us-mens-national-team"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/603681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}