Matt Crocker is leaving his position as U.S. Soccer’s sporting director with immediate effect to take a similar role with Saudi Arabia, multiple sources told me on Monday.

Assistant sporting director Oguchi Onyewu, head of women's development Tracey Kevins and Dan Helfrich, the organization's COO, will assume Crocker's duties in the lead-up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico this summer.

Crocker arrived from then-English Premier League club Southampton in 2023. He successfully recruited U.S. women’s national team coach Emma Hayes and men’s coach Mauricio Pochettino during his almost three years as the U.S. Soccer Federation’s chief on-field executive. Hayes promptly led the women’s team to its fifth gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Crocker also landed Pochettino, considered one of the top managers in the global game following stints at Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain, in September 2024.

The U.S. men kick off their World Cup campaign on June 12 against Paraguay in Los Angeles.

"I anticipate zero impact on World Cup preparation as a result of Matt's decision," Helfrich said Monday in an exclusive interview. "Mauricio and his staff have full control of the preparations for this summer's tournament, and we have full confidence in them. This transition in no way impacts those plans, which have been long-established."

Helfrich added that U.S. Soccer has already embarked on "a thoughtful and comprehensive search for a successor" for Crocker.

"I anticipate we will look both domestically and globally in that process," he said. Former USA defender Onyewu, who represented the Stars and Stripes at the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, was a candidate for the job that ultimately went to Crocker three years ago.

In April 2023, Crocker was hired after Earnie Stewart, a three-time World Cup participant and National Soccer Hall of Fame inductee, left to take over Dutch club PSV Eindhoven.

Crocker, a native of Cardiff, Wales, then hit the ground running.

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Matt Crocker Leaves US Soccer Sporting Director Role Before 2026 World Cup

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