USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter still hasn’t spoken to Gio Reyna

There’s still bad blood between Gregg Berhalter and Gio Reyna.

Berhalter, the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team coach, told Vanity Fair he has not spoken with Gio Reyna since last year’s World Cup early exit as friction lingers between the coach, Reyna and the player’s family.

The coach has actually consulted with “experts in mediation work,” per the article, in the hope the two can resolve the dispute “in the right way.”

“We both want the U.S. to win the World Cup and be very successful,” Berhalter told Vanity Fair, “and now it’s figuring out a way to cooperate to do that.”

Berhalter revealed to Vanity Fair he has had calls with “almost every player” on the 2026 national team but Reyna is a notable exception.

There is some lingering tension between the sides.

Reyna, 20, is a young star for the USMNT but played little during the 2022 World Cup, which ended with a loss in the Round of 16 to the Netherlands for the Americans.

Berhlater later revealed he considered sending one nameless player home during the tournament for not meeting expectations both on and off the field, and reports surfaced that the coach meant Reyna.

Reyna appeared to confirm the remarks in an Instagram post.

The coach said he regrets his words.

“The most important thing to me is that players trust the staff, and if this in any way was taken as a betrayal of trust, then of course I regret it because that wasn’t the intention,” Berhalter told Vanity Fair.

While Reyna admitted his scarce playing time affected him emotionally and mentally, leaving him “devastated,” he did not appreciate the comments.

“I am disappointed that there is continuing coverage of this matter (as well as some highly fictionalized versions of events) and extremely surprised that anyone on the U.S. men’s team staff would contribute to it,” Reyna wrote Dec. 12, 2022.

“Coach Berhalter has always said that issues that arise with the team will stay ‘in house’ so we can focus on team unity and progress.”

But that wasn’t the end.

Reyna’s parents, Claudio and Danielle Reyna, played for the men’s and women’s national teams, respectively, and had their issues with Berhalter.

The family told the U.S. Soccer Federation of a domestic violence incident involving Berhalter and his wife, Rosalind, from his collegiate days at North Carolina.

The federation launched an investigation that maintained Berhalter did not lie about his role in the incident.

He will likely coach Reyna again in 2026.

Berhalter told Vanity Fair he’s not comfortable talking about potential reconciliation with Claudio and Danielle, but believes he can do so with Gio.

“We started this process of how to set expectations a little and figure out how we’re going to move forward together,” Berhalter said.

“Some of it will involve him, some of it will involve us, and eventually, hopefully, it leads towards Gio being comfortable in the team, comfortable that he’s being evaluated fairly and coached fairly and held to the same norms and standards as everybody else.”

However, that process hasn’t started yet even if Berhalter says it’s a “priority.”

“It’s not something where you just pick up the phone and say, ‘Hey bud, here’s how it’s going to be,’” Berhalter told Vanity Fair.

“There is work to be done.”