John Herdman (born 19 July 1975) is an English professional football manager who is the head coach of the Indonesia national team and national under-23 team.
Herdman coached the Canada women's national team from 2011 to 2018, guiding them to back-to-back Olympic bronze medals (2012 and 2016) and a quarter-final finish at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. He then transitioned to the men's program, where he led the Canada men's national team to its first World Cup appearance in 36 years in 2022, and oversaw a significant rise in international competitiveness and ranking.
Herdman is credited with reshaping Canada's national team culture. He helped elevate the profile of Canadian soccer at home and abroad, laying foundational groundwork ahead of the country's co-hosting of the 2026 World Cup.
Personal life
Herdman is originally from Consett, County Durham, England. Herdman is married to his childhood sweetheart, Clare, and has two children: Lilly and Jay. The latter plays for Bali United, as well as the New Zealand U23 team.
Playing career During his time in New Zealand, Herdman played for NRFL Division 2 club Hibiscus Coast.
Managerial career Early career Herdman began coaching football at a young age in England, while he was a student and part-time university lecturer at Northumbria University. He was a development coach for Sunderland's youth academy until 2001, when he moved to New Zealand.
New Zealand women's national team Herdman arrived in New Zealand and joined the national association football programme in 2003, initially acting as Coach Education Manager and later as the Director of Football Development. Herdman was head coach for the New Zealand women's national team from 2006 to 2011. Working with the national women's teams, he led the under-20 squad to the FIFA World Championship in 2006, the federation's first-ever youth tournament, and the later renamed U-20 World Cup in 2010, securing its first-ever youth World Cup victory. He also guided the senior squad to the FIFA World Cup in 2007 and 2011 as well as the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. For his contributions, he was recognized as New Zealand Football Coach of the Year (2006, 2008) and New Zealand Football Team of the Year (2008).
Canada women's national team
Herdman took over for the Canada women's national team in 2011 from Carolina Morace after Canada finished last in their 2011 World Cup group. The Canada women's team were in disarray.Neil Davidson, "FIFA Women's World Cup: Canadian coach John Herdman is master motivator – 'Black Flash' challenges team to become better players, people", The Canadian Press / CBC, 4 June 2015. Some veteran players were contemplating early retirements until Herdman arrived. Shortly after, he led them to a gold medal finish at the 2011 Pan American Games in Mexico. He guided the team through the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament in Vancouver, Canada, securing one of two qualifying spots for the 2012 Olympic Games in London that summer."Canadian women confident ahead of Olympic soccer qualifiers – 2 berths available for London 2012", The Canadian Press / CBC, 17 January 2012.
London 2012 Olympic Games
The Canadian team advanced from the group stage of the 2012 Olympics with a loss to Japan, a win over South Africa and a draw with Sweden. Canada faced host nation Great Britain in the quarter-final, defeating them 2–0. This led to a historic Olympic semi-final against the United States at Old Trafford that saw the Americans prevail 4–3, with Canada's Christine Sinclair recording a hat-trick. The Guardian referred to the game as "The greatest knockout match in major-tournament football since 1982." Canada then played the third-place game, where they won the bronze medal, Canada's first Summer Olympic team sport medal since 1936. The team received the Canadian Press Team of the Year Award, another first for soccer.Canada Soccer: "Canada WNT Recognized as 2012 Canadian Press Team of the Year", 28 December 2012.
In 2015, Herdman gave a TED Talk, sharing the lessons learned from the team's 2012 Olympic performance.“If you want to reach greatness, and that's what (the Canadian women's national team) had to buy into, they had to achieve consistent goodness in every part of their life, and not only when people were watching,” he says. “Great people do it when nobody's watching.”
2015 FIFA Women's World Cup
As the 2015 World Cup was played in Canada, the Canadian national team entered the tournament as one of the seeded teams. It was drawn into Group A alongside the Netherlands, China and New Zealand.
Canada came first in their group, recording a win against China (1–0), a draw with New Zealand (0–0), and a draw with the Netherlands (1–1). The squad advanced to the Round of 16, defeating Switzerland 1–0 in Vancouver. In the quarterfinals, Canada faced England and was eliminated following a 2–1 loss in front of a capacity crowd in Vancouver.Jeremy Freeborn, "2015 FIFA Women's World Cup", Canadian Encyclopedia, 25 September 2015; updated 28 October 2015.
2016 Rio Olympic Games
Herdman led the team to a second consecutive bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro beating host team Brazil 2–1 in front of 40,000 fans at Arena Corinthians in São Paulo. Canada's win earned the team the distinction of becoming the first Canadian Olympic team to repeat a medal performance at a summer Olympic Games in more than a century.Canada Olympics: "Canada defeats Brazil to win Olympic soccer bronze at Rio 2016" 19 August 2016.
At the 2016 Olympic Games, Canada entered the record books, scoring the fastest goal in tournament history in the opening match, before becoming the first Canadian team to win the group stage at an Olympic football tournament – winning all three group stage matches.
Under Herdman, Canada earned its highest FIFA world ranking when it rose to fourth place in August 2016 in the wake of its bronze-medal performance at the Rio Olympics and earned the team the honour of "FIFA Most Improved Team".
Canada men's national team After the 2016 Olympics, there were concerns that Herdman might take a position coaching the England national women's team. There was a strong feeling that Canada Soccer needed to keep Herdman in Canada, with some seeing him as the most important person in Canadian soccer.Joshua Kloke, "Canada drone scandal: How did it happen, questions over Herdman's role, what must change", The Athletic, 24 August 2024; updated 2 October 2024. On 8 January 2018, Herdman was named head coach of the Canada men's national team, as well as the men's national director. In that position he had responsibility for all age groups from under-14s upward. He was also given an unprecedented contract term, up to the 2026 World Cup.
Herdman inherited a badly divided men's team. There were different camps within the team and fights between players were commonplace. Herdman worked hard to instill a sense of team spirit and unity."Under John Herdman, the Canadian men's team has become a winning band of brothers", Canadian Press / CTV, 11 November 2021. Barely a year after taking the job, Herdman stated that Canada would qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
In October 2019, Canada hosted the United States in a CONCACAF Nations League match at BMO Field in Toronto. Canada had not defeated its southern rival in nearly 35 years. The starting lineup included two teenagers: 18-year-old Alphonso Davies and 19-year-old Jonathan David. Davies opened the scoring, contributing to a historic 2–0 win for Canada that drew widespread praise for head coach Herdman."Canada Delivers Historic 2:0 win over USA at Home Fortress in Toronto", Sport Information Resource Centre, 16 October 2019.Neil Davidson, "Canadian men's soccer team ends 34-year winless run against U.S. – Davies, Cavallini lead Canada to victory in CONCACAF Nations League play", Canadian Press / CBC, 15 October 2019. Following the match, players highlighted his motivational and tactical leadership. Striker Lucas Cavallini told CBC: "Every minute of the day, he has a motivational speech. That's why we're here." David added, "This guy knows what he's doing... because he has a tactic every game."
In 2021, he guided the team up the FIFA World Rankings from 72nd to 40th, to earn the team the honour of "Most Improved Side" of the year. On 10 February 2022, the Canada men's team improved to 33rd in the FIFA World Rankings. During that period, Herdman coached Canada to a record 17-game unbeaten streak. In the lead up to the 2022 World Cup, there were reports that Herdman single-handedly secured private donations to fund training camp needs, including his staff.
On 27 March 2022, he led the team to qualify for the 2022 World Cup with a 4–0 victory over Jamaica at BMO Field, its first World Cup in 36 years. He was the first manager to lead both the national women's and men's teams of a nation to qualify for a World Cup.
Throughout Canada's epic rise, players consistently heaped praise on their head coach. During a postmatch TV interview, Milan Borjan snuck up and doused Herdman with champagne."He deserved this," said Borjan, his trademark sweatpants paired with a "WE CAN" T-shirt and ski goggles to protect against champagne backsplash. "This guy, he did everything."
2022 FIFA World Cup
Despite being placed in a challenging group alongside Belgium, Croatia and Morocco, Canada showed moments of promise, including Davies scoring the country's first-ever goal at a men's World Cup.
Canada's first match of the tournament against Belgium on 23 November ended in a 1–0 loss, despite Canada dictating most of the play, and failing to convert any of their 22 shots, including a penalty. Four days later, Canada lost 4–1 to Croatia, despite scoring first, eliminating Canada from the tournament after two matches. Canada were defeated 2–1 by Morocco in their final group match on 1 December, finishing fourth in the group with zero points.
Off the field, Herdman was recognized for his leadership and emotional intelligence, particularly in managing the late injury of veteran defender Doneil Henry. Twelve days before Canada's opener, Henry suffered a calf injury and voluntarily withdrew from the squad to allow a fully fit player to join. Herdman called it one of the "toughest moments" of his coaching career. He supported Henry's decision to remain with the group in a non-playing role, contributing behind the scenes on tactical preparation and player morale:
Following the World Cup, Herdman led Canada to the 2023 CONCACAF Nations League Finals, losing 2–0 to the United States in the final.
Toronto FC On 1 October 2023, Herdman left his positions with Canada Soccer to take charge of Toronto FC with MLS. At the time of the announcement, Toronto sat bottom of the Eastern Conference, with three wins from twenty-six games in the 2023 season. Under Herdman, Toronto earned its largest win margin against rivals CF Montreal with a 5–1 result. Toronto FC also defeated the reigning CONCACAF Champions Cup holders, Pachuca, by a 2–1 scoreline in Leagues Cup action at BMO Field in the final group game. Herdman resigned in November 2024.
Indonesia national team In December 2025, Herdman signed a two-year contract with an additional two-year option, to coach the Indonesia national team, as well as the national under-23 team, beginning in January 2026.
On 3 January 2026, he was officially introduced as the head coach for both Indonesia senior and under-23 national teams.
On 5 October 2026, Herdman led Indonesia to victory in the inaugural edition of the FIFA ASEAN Cup, securing his first title as Indonesia head coach. Indonesia defeated Thailand 4–2 in a penalty shoot-out in the final at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta after the match finished 2–2 following extra time.
Legacy in Canada