U.S. soccer elects Carlos Cordeiro as next president

U.S. Soccer elected Carlos Cordeiro as its 32nd president on Saturday in Orlando. 

Cordeiro, who won on the third ballot, replaces Sunil Gulati and will serve a four-year term. He won the first contested U.S. Soccer presidential election since 1998, emerging victorious from an eight-candidate field that also featured Paul Caligiuri, Kathy Carter, Steve Gans, Kyle Martino, Hope Solo, Michael Winograd and Eric Wynalda.

Cordeiro received just 36.3 percent of the vote during the first round of voting, but then received 41.8 percent in the second round and finally 68.6 percent in the third and final round.

With a 68.6 percent majority vote, @CACSoccer has been elected U.S. Soccer President. » https://t.co/Lzro8BHkdR pic.twitter.com/42brMFjvJd

— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) February 10, 2018

Cordeiro becomes president after serving in various roles with U.S. Soccer since 2007. He has been vice-president since 2016. 

It’s an incredible honor to be elected @ussoccer President. I’m grateful to everyone who supported my campaign and I salute all the candidates who ran. I promise to work with all our members to unite our soccer family! #AimHigher

— Carlos Cordeiro (@CACSoccer) February 10, 2018

USA’s men’s national team failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, marking the first time since 1986 the States have been left out of the final World Cup field.

After failing to qualify, U.S. Soccer fired manager Bruce Arena, who was serving his second stint with the national team. One of Cordeiro’s first orders of business will be finding a replacement.

The US is also bidding to co-host the 2026 World Cup along with Mexico and Canada.