How the Class of 2026 shaped the game while it was still being built

The careers that are celebrated in the National Soccer Hall of Fame are often told in milestones: goals scored, championships won, caps earned, records broken.

The Class of 2026 certainly features all those accomplishments. But as they delivered their induction speeches, another common theme emerged. Each of the Hall’s newest members built a historic career while the sport itself was under construction in this country.

• Heather O’Reilly and Tobin Heath excelled while women’s soccer was still expanding its reach and visibility.
• Tony Sanneh and Chris Wondolowski grinded their way to greatness while Major League Soccer was establishing its identity in two different eras.
• Kari Seitz blazed a trail when the pathways to refereeing were less accessible.
• Kevin Crow turned to the indoor game out of necessity during a time when the sport sustained and shaped a generation of talent.

In many ways, the Class of 2026 reflects figures who helped shape American soccer while trying to find their places within it.

They kept building before the blueprint was finished.

Shared legacy, unique strengths

O’Reilly and Heath — New Jersey natives, college teammates and U.S. Women’s National Team icons — represented two different expressions of what elite American soccer could look like.

By the time they competed on the global stage, there was no need for the U.S. to prove it belonged there. Instead, their generation was charged with sustaining excellence and broadening perceptions of how Americans played the game.

O’Reilly built her career around relentlessness, with intensity and accountability that defined generations of the national team’s culture. She found connection with teammates who embraced the same standards.

“I found my people — the girls and women who thought it was cool to work hard,” she said.

Heath approached the sport from an entirely different angle. Creativity, improvisation and artistry were at the center of her soccer.

“I could make an opponent out of anyone,” Heath said.“I could make an opponent out of my imagination.”

Together, their careers reflected the expanding identity of women’s soccer in the U.S.: a sport growing broad enough to celebrate different styles, personalities and forms of leadership while maintaining its elite standards.

The value of community

Sanneh and Wondolowski took unpredictable paths to MLS greatness.  Their stories reflect different stages of the game’s growth, as well as the importance of the communities and experiences that help players grow.

Pro soccer was still establishing itself between the indoor and outdoor game when Sanneh’s career developed, but the foundation for his personal journey already was intact: the coaches, mentors, teammates, and community figures who invested in him before success was guaranteed.

“People were always believing in me,” he said after putting on the red jacket. “I was really, really blessed.”

Those experiences would shape Sanneh’s work off the field, where he has built youth and community programs designed to create opportunities for the generations to come.

Wondolowski’s path was quieter. His MLS career started after he played in college for Chico State, and he acknowledged his early days were marked by cautious play, trying to avoid being “the guy that made the mistake.”

When he returned home to California and joined San Jose, the club he supported growing up, everything changed.

“It’s not a coincidence that that’s when my career took off, when I was able to play in front of friends and family,” he said.

Moving with the game

Crow’s career reflected a generation of American players who often had to adapt alongside the sport itself.

After starring at San Diego State, he entered the North American Soccer League just as it was beginning to fade. When the league folded after his second season, much of its talent migrated to indoor soccer instead.

With the San Diego Sockers, Crow became a key contributor to one of the defining organizations of the indoor era while competing alongside players he had long admired.

“My challenge was to survive every day,” Crow said. “The competition was so hard at training, basically the games were easier.”

For players of that generation, versatility often wasn’t optional. Indoor soccer helped sustain professional careers, sharpen technical development and keep high-level competition alive during the drought for top-flight outdoor play.

Pushing open new doors

Seitz’s career expanded what women could envision for themselves within the sport at a time when women referees were rare at the highest levels of international soccer.

She advanced through a profession based on authority, composure, and constant scrutiny — often without many visible examples to follow. What stood out in her induction speech was how naturally she pursued the path anyway.

“I didn’t even notice there were no women referees,” she said. “That didn’t even cross my mind.”

She officiated some of the world’s biggest matches while redefining the perception of women in refereeing and leadership positions across the global game.

“You have to make your decisions and sometimes be completely wrong in everyone’s eyes,” Seitz said.

Her impact ultimately extended beyond the matches she worked. Through leadership and development roles with FIFA and U.S. Soccer, Seitz helped create clearer pathways and greater visibility for future generations of women officials entering the sport.

In many ways, her career reflected a broader evolution happening throughout soccer — one where women increasingly moved from participating in the game to helping lead, shape, and redefine it.

Together, the members of the Class of 2026 trace the evolution of American soccer — through changing leagues, expanding opportunities, growing visibility and new definitions of success.

Some won on the global level, others set the standard for domestic play. Each followed a singular path to the sport, and all helped move the game forward while it was still learning what it could become.