- Coach fired in wake of back-to-back World Cup qualifying losses
- Multiple reports indicate Bruce Arena will succeed Klinsmann
Jürgen Klinsmann’s reign as coach of the United States men’s team is over, with US Soccer announcing his departure on Monday.
The news comes after the US lost successive games to Mexico and Costa Rica in the qualifying campaign for the 2018 World Cup.
Multiple reports indicate Bruce Arena will be named Klinsmann’s successor, possibly as soon as Tuesday.
“Today we made the difficult decision of parting ways with Jurgen Klinsmann, our head coach of the US men’s national team and technical director,” Sunil Gulati, head of US Soccer, said in a statement. “We want to thank Jürgen for his hard work and commitment during these last five years. He took pride in having the responsibility of steering the program, and there were considerable achievements along the way.
“Many are aware of the historic victories, including leading us out of the Group of Death to the Round of 16 in the 2014 Fifa World Cup, but there were also lesser publicized efforts behind the scenes. He challenged everyone in the US Soccer community to think about things in new ways, and thanks to his efforts we have grown as an organization and expect there will be benefits from his work for years to come.
“While we remain confident that we have quality players to help us advance to Russia 2018, the form and growth of the team up to this point left us convinced that we need to go in a different direction. With the next qualifying match in late March, we have several months to refocus the group and determine the best way forward to ensure a successful journey to qualify for our eighth consecutive World Cup.”
US Soccer did not immediately give a timeframe for the recruitment of Klinsmann’s successor, though the New York Times, Associated Press and USAToday all reported the likely choice is Arena, who previously coached the national team from 1998 through 2006.
Klinsmann, who managed Germany to a third-place finish on home soil at the 2006 World Cup, oversaw the national team for 98 matches since his appointment in 2011. His 55 victories, against 28 losses and 15 draws, rank second all time behind Arena’s 71.
But his record against opponents ranked in the top 20 of Fifa’s world rankings – two victories, eight losses, two draws and a minus-10 goal differential – was the worst in modern national team history.
Highlights of Klinsmann’s tenure include guiding the team to the last 16 of the 2014 World Cup and their first ever victory over Mexico at the Estadio Azteca in 2012. He also coached the team to their fifth Concacaf Gold Cup victory in 2014.
Voices from around the soccer world responded on social media as word of the news of Klinsmann’s dismissal spread on Monday afternoon:
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