In Qatar 2022, Sebastian Berhalter was buying a miniature World Cup trophy at a market stall. Four years later, he's on the USMNT roster trying to win the real one.
His father Gregg — the man who coached that Qatar squad before being let go after a dismal 2024 Copa America campaign — told reporters that story on Friday, and it lands harder than most feel-good World Cup narratives. The kid bought a trinket, put it in his apartment, stared at it every day, and willed himself into this position. Sebastian's wife apparently questioned the purchase. He told her it was a daily reminder of where he wanted to go.
The breakout that earned his spot
It wasn't handed to him. After arriving at Chicago Fire via trade from Vancouver Whitecaps in 2022, Sebastian spent years grinding through limited minutes before something clicked in 2025. Six goals and four assists across 13 MLS games. An All-Star selection. Increasingly regular call-ups under Mauricio Pochettino, the man who replaced his father as national team boss.
That last detail matters. Sebastian didn't ride his dad's tenure into a World Cup — he actually earned his shot under the coach who replaced him. That's a harder road than it looks on paper, and the numbers back it up.
Gregg was candid about the approach he and his wife took: "We're going to give him the tools and give him the guidance, but he has to eventually do it for himself. We never spoke to coaches. Never spoke to agents." For a football family with those connections, that restraint is notable.
Berhalter watching from the outside now
The dynamic is genuinely strange. Gregg is now Chicago Fire's director of football and head coach, his MLS side sitting third in the table. He'll be watching a squad he once managed — players he calls "kids" and "babies" from his tenure — compete in a home World Cup he spent years building toward before being shown the door.
There's no bitterness in his public comments, and the sentiment toward the current group sounds genuine. "This is their moment, this is what they've been building for," he said. Whatever he feels privately about missing out on the tournament he helped construct, he's keeping it close.
The USMNT face Germany in Chicago on Saturday in their final send-off match before the World Cup begins. Sebastian Berhalter, once a spectator in the stands, will have a chance to play. The trophy's no longer a replica sitting on an apartment shelf.
