Newly published tax filings from U.S. Soccer show that Emma Hayes earned just under $1.5 million in her first 11 months as head coach of the U.S. women's national team. In the tax year running from April 2024 to March 2025, the former Chelsea boss received $700,000 in bonuses on top of a base salary reported at just under $745,000.
When Hayes' appointment was confirmed in November 2023, U.S. Soccer said it had made her the world's "highest paid women's soccer coach". However, her total pay remains significantly smaller than Mauricio Pochettino's remuneration as USMNT boss. Hired in September 2024, Pochettino had earned just over $5 million by the end of March 2025, according to the same filings.
Hayes was handed the USWNT job on a contract reportedly set to run through the 2027 Women's World Cup. She went unbeaten in her first 17 games in charge, winning 15, a run that included steering the team to Olympic gold in Paris in summer 2024 with six wins in six and clean sheets in every knockout match. That triumph came in only her 10th game as head coach and contributed to her being named the world's Women's Coach of the Year two months later at the 2024 Ballon d'Or gala.
Since suffering her first defeat as USWNT boss, against Japan in February 2025, Hayes has overseen five more losses, including three so far in 2026. The most recent came on Saturday, when world champions Spain beat the USWNT 2-0 in Washington, D.C., in the first of a double-header of fall friendlies between the two top-ranked teams. First-half goals from Patri Guijarro and Eva Navarro gave Spain the win, with the visitors scoring with all but one of their shots on target at Audi Field before withstanding a second-half USWNT push.
The two sides meet again on Tuesday in the USWNT's final game before the 2026 CONCACAF W Championship, with Hayes calling for her side to tighten up defensively. "If you give up two goals with a 0.67xG, you can't expect to win games of football," she told reporters on Monday. "You can't do that at the top level."
Hayes added: "We have to tighten up on those things because, actually, they didn't create a lot of chances. I think if we defend those moments better, it at least puts us into a stronger position. But once you go 2-0 down against them, then you are faced with chasing the game. In the second half it was all about us, but you also have to score to win games."
The rematch takes place at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania, with kickoff scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT. Viewers in the U.S. can watch the game live on TNT, HBO Max, Universo and Peacock.
