Sebastian Berhalter made his World Cup debut earlier this month, then turned his first start into the sort of night that changes a player’s profile. He started the third group-stage game for the U.S. and finished with a goal and an assist in a loss to Turkey, a line no American had matched in a World Cup game in 96 years.
That is why his name is being searched now. Berhalter, 16 appearances into his U.S. career, had come off the bench in the team’s first two group-stage games, both wins, before Mauricio Pochettino gave him the start that finally put him in the middle of the stage. Before the game, he said he kept chuckling to himself and could not believe he was playing for his country. Later, he called it ridiculous and said he still could hardly process it. For a player who had spent years around the World Cup through his father, that first big moment arrived all at once.
Gregg Berhalter has been part of that path from the start. Sebastian was 13 months old when his father played in the World Cup for the first time, and 5 when he was called back to the tournament. Four years ago, Sebastian went to Qatar to watch Gregg coach the U.S. to the round of 16. But his own route to the national team took longer. He played for three MLS teams, won an MLS Cup and three Canadian Championships, and still had to wait until Pochettino’s appointment in spring 2025 before getting his first call-up.
That delay sits at the center of the story, because Gregg Berhalter said he never could have picked his son if he had remained coach. He has framed that as part of the way things were supposed to unfold, but it also shows how closely Sebastian’s rise has been tied to the concern that any selection would be viewed through a nepotism lens. Pochettino’s criteria were simpler: form, fit and trust, not family history. Berhalter got the call, then made the most of the chance.
The next test comes Wednesday, when the U.S. plays Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32 in Santa Clara. Sebastian Berhalter has already shown he can affect a game on this stage. The open question is whether that performance earns him a larger role in the knockout round, where the margin is gone and the U.S. will need more than one breakthrough to match the standard set by 2002, the only American team to win a knockout game in a World Cup.
