{"id":668505,"date":"2026-05-14T08:17:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T08:17:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/668505\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T08:17:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T08:17:23","slug":"berhalter-ballin-whitecaps-star-bolsters-usmnt-world-cup-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/668505\/","title":{"rendered":"Berhalter Ballin’: Whitecaps star bolsters USMNT World Cup case"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sebastian Berhalter<\/a> is playing the best soccer of his career, and it couldn\u2019t come at a better moment.<\/p>\n

With the World Cup less than a month away \u2013 and the US men\u2019s national team<\/a>\u2019s roster reveal less than two weeks away \u2013 the Vancouver Whitecaps<\/a> midfielder is shining for his club and looks poised to be an impact player for his country this summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe made the difference,\u201d head coach Jesper S\u00f8rensen said of Berhalter following a 3-2 win<\/a> at FC Dallas<\/a> on Wednesday. \u201c[They] were not big chances, from where he struck the ball. It was great quality, and sometimes that\u2019s what you need.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe provided that in moments where you don\u2019t expect it. It was a good performance from him, and the two goals made it special.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Bangers only<\/p>\n

The latest star performance of Berhalter\u2019s red-hot run of form came at Toyota Stadium. The 25-year-old dazzled for the Whitecaps, scoring twice, with both goals being beautiful right-footed shots from outside the penalty box.<\/p>\n

Both strikes were of the utmost quality, with the first a blast that rattled the underside of the crossbar before going in. That goal clawed Vancouver level after Golden Boot presented by Audi candidate\u00a0Petar Musa<\/a> had given FC Dallas<\/a> an early lead.<\/p>\n

The second goal proved to be the game\u2019s decisive one, curling into the far upper corner from just outside the 18-yard box to make it 3-2. It was an excellent display of finesse by Berhalter, who netted his third goal in two matches and, in the process, sent Vancouver atop the Supporters’ Shield standings.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something that, throughout the year, I\u2019ve tried to improve upon,\u201d Berhalter said. \u201cIt took time to earn the coaches\u2019 trust. They wanted me to chill out and understand the shots I\u2019m taking. But I\u2019m at a point where I\u2019m confident, they\u2019re confident in me, and it\u2019s just about hitting the target.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n World Cup dreaming<\/p>\n

Berhalter\u2019s ascendancy comes in a moment of real need for the USMNT. There has been much discussion in recent months surrounding what the US midfield would look like at this tournament, and recent news of Johnny Cardoso\u2019s injury has brought that position back to the forefront.<\/p>\n

With his current form, Berhalter is certainly in contention to be selected by national team boss Mauricio Pochettino, who will reveal his final roster\u00a0in New York City on May 26.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to keep taking it one game at a time,\u201d Berhalter said when asked about the World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne moment at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sebastian Berhalter is playing the best soccer of his career, and it couldn\u2019t come at a better moment.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":668506,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,246529,59211,214446,24855,561,82,16534],"class_list":["post-668505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-dalvsvan-05-13-2026","tag-match-reaction","tag-sebastian-berhalter","tag-sendtonews","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-vancouver-whitecaps-fc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668505","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=668505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/668506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=668505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=668505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=668505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}