Bruce Arena resigns as U.S. men’s soccer coach after failure to qualify for World Cup

Bruce Arena became the first casualty of the failed U.S. bid to qualify for next summer’s World Cup when he stepped down as coach of the national team Friday.

Arena, who left the Galaxy for a second stint with the national team last November, is U.S. Soccer’s all-time-winningest coach with a record of 81-32-35. He is also the only man to coach the U.S. in two World Cups, having reached the quarterfinals in 2002.

But after taking over two games into the qualifying cycle for Russia 2018, Arena fell one point shy getting the U.S. to an eighth straight World Cup when his team lost to Trinidad and Tobago, 2-1, on Tuesday.

“When I took the job last November, I knew there was a great challenge ahead, probably more than most people could appreciate. Everyone involved in the program gave everything they had for the last 11 months, and in the end we came up short. No excuses. We didn’t get the job done, and I accept responsibility,” Arena said in a statement.

“This certainly is a major setback for the senior men’s national team program, and questions rightly should be asked about how we can improve. No doubt this process already has started and will continue so that U.S. Soccer can progress.”

Arena, who has won a record five MLS Cups — including three with the Galaxy — as a club coach, lost just two of 18 games with the national team this year, rolling unbeaten through last summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup. But both of those losses came in World Cup qualifying, to Costa Rica at home last month and to Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday.

The U.S. needed only a draw in that game — or for either Honduras or Panama to also lose — to advance to either the World Cup or a playoff with Australia with a final tournament berth at stake. Instead the U.S. lost and Honduras rallied to beat Mexico while Panama downed Costa Rica, dropping the U.S. to fifth in the sixth-team qualifying table.

That marked the first time the U.S., Mexico and Costa Rica all lost qualifiers on the same day.

“While this is a difficult moment, I maintain a fierce belief that we are heading in the right direction,” Arena said. “I believe in the American player and the American coach, and with our combined efforts the future remains bright.

“I don’t know what the future holds for me, but I can say this from the bottom of my heart: from the high of reaching the quarterfinal of the 2002 World Cup to the low of a few days ago, I have appreciated every minute of being a part of this program.”

kevin.baxter@latimes.com

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