The Golden Coach of USWNT Prepares for World Cup 2027 Qualifiers
Of all the coaches, the Women’s National Soccer Team has gained a coach with many firsts. The USWNT head coach Emma Hayes is the 10th full-time head coach for the USWNT. In May 2024, her coaching title was made official, leading the team into the 2024 Olympic gold medal position within the 10th match. Hayes is the first USWNT coach to win a first major tournament by a margin of three or more points. In the first match against Zambia, the U.S. won 3-0. Coach Hayes led the USA to six consecutive victories in France. Won all three knockout matches by 1-0 scores.
She also brings her own style of preparation to the national team by naming more than 36 different starters in their first 30 games in charge. In 2025, 44 different players gained caps while under her leadership. The most of any coach in the 40 years of the USWNT. Emma came to the U.S. in 2001 and coached at the youth level with the New York Olympic Development Program. She was the coach for the Long Island Lady Raiders in the USL W-League from 2001 to 2003, becoming the youngest female coach in 2002. After two conference championships with Iona College in New Rochelle, NY, she went back to Europe to become the first team assistant coach and academy director for Arsenal FC from 2005 to 2008. With a brief stint as the coach of the Chicago Red Stars, coaching consultant to Washington Freedom, and technical director with the Western New York Flash, she went back to England in 2011 to become the longest-serving head coach at Chelsea FC.
The Chelsea Blues won the 2019-2020 Women’s Soccer League title and League Cup, which awarded coach Hayes with the WSL Manager of the Season. She won the Best FIFA Women’s Coach Award in 2021 and became the first coach to guide a team to three consecutive WSL titles. She won five Women's Super League titles and the seventh WSL title, the most in league history. No other club has won as many titles.
On October 28th, 2024, Emma Hayes won her first World Award as head coach, the first Ballon d’Or given to women’s soccer. The USWNT just won their eighth SheBelieves Cup this past March 2026 without conceding one goal in their final game to Colombia. The team also won their first out of three friendly match-ups against Japan 2-1 on April 11th 2026. The coach has a 26-member roster training team, of which 19 are NWSL players, and seven of the 26 are based in Europe. Her awards are no surprise with such prowess in leadership; the golden coach has still much to prove, leading to women’s World Cup qualification.
