Jesse Marsch was literally being fingerprinted for a work visa at Leicester City when U.S. Soccer called to tell him the USMNT job was his. So he walked away from the King Power Stadium. Weeks later, they called again — to say it wasn't.
"It was made very clear to me by U.S. Soccer that I was going to be the coach, and then it was made very clear to me that I was not," Marsch told GiveMeSport. "At the time, I was devastated and angry."
The job went to Gregg Berhalter instead — a decision that looks even stranger in hindsight. Berhalter lasted one more year before getting fired after the USMNT's group stage exit at Copa América 2024. Mauricio Pochettino is now in charge. Marsch, meanwhile, is running Canada.
The Leicester thing makes it worse
The USSF situation didn't just cost Marsch one opportunity. It cost him two. By engaging with U.S. Soccer, he had to back out of a handshake agreement with Leicester — his second time pulling that kind of move after a similar episode with Southampton. "Everything was agreed upon," he said of Leicester. "I felt terrible."
Leicester, of course, went on to win promotion back to the Premier League. Marsch would have been managing in the top flight. Instead he was left with nothing — at least temporarily.
What he landed was Canada, and by his own account, it fits. "I just feel like I have found a team, a fan base and a country that fits with who I am," he said. He contrasts Canada Soccer's collaborative culture directly with the USSF's sprawling web of competing interests and egos — and he doesn't bother softening the comparison.
Marsch has made his point on the pitch too
He's beaten the USMNT twice since taking the Canada job — a 2-1 friendly win in 2024 and another 2-1 result in the Concacaf Nations League third-place match. Both times, the story became about him rather than the match, which he admits he finds uncomfortable.
"I don't like playing against the U.S. because of that," said Marsch. "It winds up being too much about me and the U.S."
When Berhalter was sacked last year, Marsch made clear he had zero interest in revisiting the whole saga. "Unless there's a big shift in the organization, I don't think that I'll ever have any interest in that job in the future." The USSF declined to comment when ESPN asked. Probably wise.
