Tuesday's FIFA World Cup Tonight show put Clint Dempsey, Stu Holden, Maurice Edu and Chad Ochocinco Johnson on the spot by asking if Gregg Berhalter should be USMNT manager at the 2026 World Cup.
Berhalter's contract is over at the end of the year, but negotiations on an extension have begun between U.S. Soccer and the 49-year-old after the team reached the Round of 16 in Qatar.
The responses were split — and some liberties were taken in how the question was answered — but it ended in a pretty hilarious way with Dempsey and Edu accusing Holden of having Berhalter on speed dial and angling for a spot on his staff come 2026.
Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down
Should Berhalter be the USMNT manager in 2026? ⬇️@MauriceEdu | @ochocinco | @kate_abdo | @clint_dempsey | @stuholden pic.twitter.com/7bTD2zlCp4— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) December 14, 2022
Edu was the most critical of Berhalter. Edu said the latest Giovanni Reyna ordeal is just a microcosm of his larger disappointment with Berhalter and that the U.S. should go a different direction immediately.
Dempsey also gave Berhalter a thumbs down, but his response came with a caveat: Berhalter should continue in the job, but he needs to be critically judged during the 2023 Gold Cup and 2024 Copa América before a decision can be made on 2026.
Holden is all in, so much so that his former USA teammates started making fun of him. Kate Abdo was also on the receiving end of a Dempsey joke after taking up a line of questioning that seemed very pro-Berhalter.
We are a nation divided.
