Brian Schmetzer grew up catching crawdads in Thornton Creek and playing soccer on the bumpy, muddy fields at John Rogers Elementary School in Lake City.

On Friday, June 19, the 63-year-old Seattle Sounders head coach will watch his captain, Cristian Roldan, represent the United States at the FIFA World Cup inside Lumen Field.

Thirteen of 27 players on Schmetzer's current Sounders roster have Seattle-area ties, whether raised here, educated at local universities, or developed through the club's system. Roldan, a University of Washington product who has captained the club since 2024, was named to the 26-man U.S. squad by head coach Mauricio Pochettino on Monday, May 26. He'll line up in midfield for the Group D opener against Australia at noon PT.

"When we think of Seattle, we think of Schmetz," Roldan said after a recent practice at the Sounders training facility, according to The Seattle Times.

Schmetzer's roots in this city's soccer culture run five decades deep. His father Walter, a German immigrant machinist, formed a youth team called the Lake City Hawks in 1970, drawing European tactics on a chalkboard in the family basement. The Hawks won seven of ten state championships over the following decade.

Walter also ran Sporthaus Schmetzer on Lake City Way, one of Seattle's first soccer shops, where a teenage Brian silk-screened jerseys in a hot backroom reeking of turpentine.

In 1980, while still a senior at Nathan Hale High School, Schmetzer was signed by the original Seattle Sounders of the North American Soccer League after coaches spotted him unleashing a left-wing shot that, as he recalled, "sailed into the top corner." Crowds of 25,000 to 30,000 packed the Kingdome in those years.

When the NASL folded, Schmetzer bounced through indoor soccer leagues in Tulsa, San Diego, Tacoma, and St. Louis. He poured concrete, did plumbing, framing, and roofing to make ends meet. He coached youth clinics. He waited.

The payoff came slowly, then all at once. Schmetzer led the reborn lower-league Sounders to USL championships in 2005 and 2007, was bumped to assistant when the club entered MLS in 2009, then reclaimed the top job midseason in 2016 and won the MLS Cup that same year. He added a second title in 2019 in front of 69,274 fans at what is now Lumen Field, a state record for a soccer crowd at the time. His trophy case now holds four major titles: two MLS Cups (2016, 2019), the CONCACAF Champions Cup (2022), and the Leagues Cup (2025).

Forbes valued the Sounders at $860 million in February 2026. The club has reportedly sought to raise more than $200 million at a roughly $1 billion target valuation.

The local pipeline Schmetzer has built is visible on the pitch. In an April match against FC Dallas, a goal by Mercer Island's Jordan Morris was set up by a passing sequence involving Federal Way's Hassani Dotson, Seattle's Jackson Ragen, Seattle University's Alex Roldan, and Kirkland's Snyder Brunell. Morris became the club's all-time leading scorer in 2025 with 87 goals.

Capitol Hill product Paul Rothrock, who bought cleats from Sporthaus Schmetzer as a kid, now plays wing for the club. "His story resonates with my story, too. Being a Seattle kid. He was one of the first guys to do it," Rothrock told The Seattle Times.

Schmetzer still prowls the sideline in a suit and tie, jotting notes on scraps of paper. He lives in Madison Park, watches Scandinavian detective shows with his wife Kristine, and grills on a barbecue he built himself.

The World Cup arrived at Lumen Field on Monday, June 15 with Belgium vs. Egypt. Seattle will host at least six matches through Tuesday, July 7, including a Round of 16 game.

The Sounders won't play MLS games during the tournament, giving Schmetzer time to watch from the stands as the World Cup comes to the city where he's spent five decades in the sport.