Berhalter: Following in my dad's footsteps means everything
Sebastian Berhalter talks to FIFA about potentially emulating his father Gregg by playing at a World Cup and his rapid rise over past year.
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The FIFA World Cup™ has long been a family affair, with a number of fathers and sons playing at football's highest stage. This exclusive list includes luminaries such as Cesare and Paolo Maldini, Jean and Youri Djorkaeff, Pablo and Diego Forlan, as well as Danny and Daley Blind, among others.
A number of rising stars are set to follow in their father's footsteps at the FIFA World Cup 2026™, including USA midfielder Sebastian Berhalter whose dad Gregg played for the Stars and Stripes at Korea/Japan 2002 and Germany 2006, as well as coached the team at Qatar 2022.
Berhalter has had a storybook rise over the past 12 months. This time last year, the box-to-box midfielder had yet to make a senior appearance for the States. But after seizing his opportunity at the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup, the Vancouver Whitecaps star has become a mainstay of Mauricio Pochettino's squad.
He further made his case by giving the Americans the lead in a 5-1 rout over South American heavyweights Uruguay in November and performed respectably in coming on for the final half-hour of the 5-2 defeat to Belgium in Atlanta at the weekend.
The 24-year-old has been to three World Cups as a fan, albeit two as a young child, to support his dad. As he tells FIFA, Berhalter is determined to carry on his family's rich footballing legacy by joining Claudio and Gio Reyna as just the second USA father and son duo to play at a World Cup.
Sebastian Berhalter: I've seen him participating in three World Cups, playing in two and coaching one, so it means everything to follow in his footsteps and hopefully get that chance to represent my country. In a way, I've been dreaming [about this] since I was a kid, seeing how much my family revolves around him to always put him first to make him feel as good as he can and be ready to go for his competitions... Now I want to feel that and I want my family to be behind me and support me, as they always do, and it would be a really nice feeling.
The number doesn't matter as much as making [my father] and family proud, that's the biggest thing.
The memories of 2006 are around the hotel, collecting Panini stickers and playing soccer with the other kids. It was less about the games. I could feel that I was at something important — and I still have that feeling to this day — and that was an important thing for my family and my dad.
I was in the stands cheering the guys on and wishing the best for my country and my pop. That was a really cool moment for sure. I was 20 years old being a professional soccer player then, and those [USA players] were my idols. Those were guys I grew up watching and seeing how proud everyone was of the team and I was the biggest fan.
It's been a continuation of the past seven years of being a professional soccer player. Every year has been a steady build and I don't want to say I'm not surprised but it's been something I've been working towards. I feel like I've put in the work and tried to get better. I'm not surprised as I've been doing well. I feel like my routines and habits and everything that I do prepares me for moments that I've been in. It's been crazy for sure but I'm taking it one day at a time and... keep doing my best.
Americans want to win and that's how we are and how it's been since day one. That is our goal and we're in our home country and we've seen teams like Korea [Republic] make it to the semi-finals in their home country [in 2002]. It's an amazing opportunity to go and do that.
He's great. He is someone who if you ask him a question he will give you 110 per cent honesty. He will be very blunt but he has given me things to feel at ease almost. He says, 'You are still playing football and it is still a game. I know there is a lot of pressure but this is what you love to do and what you've been preparing your whole life for. That's what it feels like... you are with your friends playing football.' He tries to dumb it down and he's just a great guy to have around with that kind of experience.
It's been building. You see our stadium is getting ready and there are signs all over Vancouver. I think everyone is excited.