US national coach Berhalter disappoints with his team at the Copa América. Now he's out of a job. Two years before the home World Cup, the Americans are looking for a German star coach.
Two years before the home World Cup, the US Soccer Association is trying to secure a spectacular coaching deal, according to a media report. The Americans want to sign German star coach Jürgen Klopp, according to the English newspaper "The Independent". It did not name any sources. According to "The Athletic", however, Klopp is said to have rejected the offer from the 2026 World Cup hosts.
It was previously reported that there had already been initial contact with the 50-year-old or his advisors. There was initially no reaction to the report from the association, which had dismissed selection coach Gregg Berhalter after the disappointing first-round exit at the Copa América, or from Klopp.
Klopp left Liverpool FC after nine years at the end of last season and announced his intention to take a break from coaching for the time being. However, a possible job in the USA could be lucrative and very exciting: The Americans are hosting the 2026 World Cup together with Canada and Mexico.
Commitment associated with major hurdles
Former goalkeeper Tim Howard recently wrote a column urging his association to sign Klopp and offered to meet the German coach in person at his summer home in Spain. "I think I could lure him in. One hundred percent," Howard wrote in the Daily Mail newspaper.
However, a signing would also have to overcome major hurdles - especially financial ones. To get Klopp, the US association would have to "move heaven and hell", according to Fox Sports.
Before Klopp, Jürgen Klinsmann, among others, had already coached the US team from 2011 to 2016. In the previous year, Berhalter was then brought in for the second time as selector coach. However, at the Copa América, which the USA is currently hosting and where the finals are scheduled for this weekend, the North Americans were eliminated before the knockout phase. The 50-year-old, whose team featuring former Bundesliga professionals Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Chris Richards had been so disappointing, was then heavily criticized.
