USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter reveals aim to emulate England's success after World Cup draw pairing

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4:06 PM ET

Berhalter, who was named the U.S. men's national team coach on Friday, contacted England's coach with the aim of emulating the team's recent success.

In September 2016 he took interim charge of England before taking the job on a permanent basis in November of that year.

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After being knocked out of Euro 2016 by minnows Iceland, England reached the semifinals of the World Cup two years later, their best performance in 28 years, before losing the Euro 2020 final on penalties.

After the U.S. were drawn in Group B alongside England at the World Cup in November, Berhalter reached out to them. Since then, we've kept in touch, bouncing ideas off each other and talking about the job and international football. It is a strong relationship.

I did it because of the similarities that I mentioned. I knew I was taking over a pool. I watched what they did. I knew that he was taking over a team that wasn't always easy to play for.

He changed the culture when they were at a difficult point. I was interested in doing that because we came off qualification and missed out.

The 1998 World Cup game between Iran and the US was dubbed the "most politically charged game in World Cup history" due to tensions arising from America's support for Iraq in the Iraq-Iran war and the previous attack on an American.

Berhalter said that the focus was on how to get out of the group.

We think that Iran is a good team. We are trying to figure out how to beat them.

We have both grown so much since then. 24 years later, the world looks different and we are no longer rivals with Iran. I think we are friends. There is a lot of respect.

Football is a lot more political than politics. We are able to remain friends on the pitch and we are looking forward to the game.

The winner of the European playoff between Wales and either Scotland or Ukraine will be the final team in Group B.

Concerns over the country's human rights record are overshadowing the preparations for the World Cup.

Berhalter insists the USMNT would consider the idea of speaking to other national teams to coordinate a unified stance on the issue.

It has to be in line with our values as a team and our players have to be into it, but I wouldn't rule that out.

The beauty of having a World Cup here is to bring attention to the good things they are doing and perhaps some things they are not doing well. To shine the spotlight on this region, and to acknowledge some of the change that has taken place and some things that still need to happen.

We have been educating the team for over a year on this topic, and for us individually, players choose how they are going to address it. The World Cup is the best way to draw attention to what is going on here.

Human rights issues, gay rights issues are important to us and we have been educating the players very seriously. We represent a diverse group of players, and we hope the Qataris stand for it as well.