FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Women’s World Cup champions and Olympic gold medalists Tobin Heath and Heather O’Reilly were elected Thursday to the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame along with men’s players Tony
Sanneh and Chris Wondolowski.
Referee Kari Seitz also was elected along with Kevin Crow, known primarily for his time in indoor soccer.
They will be inducted on May 1 at the hall in Frisco, Texas.
O’Reilly, 40, was a forward and winger who scored 47 goals in 231 international appearances, helping the U.S. win the 2015 World Cup and Olympic gold medals in 2004, 2008 and 2012. She won league titles with Sky Blue in 2009 in Women’s Professional Soccer and with Kansas City in 2015 and North Carolina in 2019 in the National Women’s Soccer League.
Heath, 37, was a midfielder and forward who had 36 goals in 181 appearances, winning World Cup titles with the U.S. in 2015 and 2019 and Olympic gold medals in 2008 and 2012.
Wondolowski, 42, is Major League Soccer’s career scoring leader with 171 regular-season goals and two in the playoffs, playing for San Jose (2005, 2009-21) and Houston (2006-09). He scored 11 goals in 35 international appearances, playing in two games at the 2014 World Cup.
Sanneh, 54, was a defender who scored three goals in 43 international appearances, starting all five games for the U.S. at the 2002 World Cup as the Americans reached the quarterfinals in their farthest advancement since 1930. He played for D.C. (1996-98), Columbus (2004), Chicago (2005-06), Colorado (2007) and the LA Galaxy (2009) along with stints at Hertha Berlin (1991-2001) and Nuremberg (2001-04) and won MLS titles in 1996 and 1997.
O’Reilly, Heath and Wondolowski were picked from the player ballot. The top two are elected if they each receive at least 50% and a third is elected if receiving at least 75%.
O’Reilly got 47 of 48 votes for 97.9%, followed by Heath (45, 93.8%), Wondolowski (37, 77.1%), Keith Johnson (33, 68.8%), Samantha Mewis (32, 66.7%), Dwayne DeRosario (29, 60.4%), Amy Rodriguez (28, 58.3%), Kyle Beckerman (27, 56.3%), Robbie Keane (20, 41.7%), Oguchi Onyewu (19, 39.6%), Jermaine Jones (17, 35.4%), Maurice Edu (16, 33.3%), Diego Valeri (13, 27.1%), Michael Archer (12, 25%), Stephanie Lopez Cox (12, 25%), Chad Marshall (11, 22.9%), Mike Lawson (10, 20.8%), Carlos Ruiz (7, 14.6%), Matt Besler (6, 12.5%) and Geoff Cameron (5, 10.4%).
Sanneh and Crow were chosen from the veteran ballot, in which the top vote-getter is elected if receiving at least 50% and a second if receiving at least 75%. Sanneh was on 21 of 24 ballots (87.55%) and was followed by Crow (19, 79.2%), Tatu (17, 70.8%), Tiffany Roberts (16, 66.7%), David Beckham (11, 45.8%), Clint Mathis (10, 41.7%), Lorrie Fair (6, 25%), Chico Borja (5, 20.8%), Aly Wagner (5, 20.8%) and Francis Farberoff (1, 4.2%).
Seitz, 55, referred refereed nine games at the Women’s World Cup in 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011 and six at the Olympics in 2004, 2008 and 2012. She became the U.S. Soccer Federation’s vice president of referees in 2024.
Seitz was on the builder ballot, which this year included only referees. The top voter-getter is picked if receiving at least 50%.
For the Builder Ballot, the 2026 rotation considered candidates from the referee category only. Election procedures call for the Builder named to the most ballots (and on at least 50% of the ballots) to be elected. Seitz got 19 of 24 votes (79.2%) and was followed by Gino D’Ippolito (10, 41.7%), Brian Hall (6, 25%) and Mark Geiger (4, 16.7%).
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