Having served as President since 2006, incumbent Sunil Gulati decided not to run for re-election, after the United States men's national soccer team failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1986.
[3] In the months leading up to the election, the U.S. Soccer Federation submitted a joint bid with Canada and Mexico to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
[8] On December 22, 2017, Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated reported that outgoing U.S. Soccer President, Sunil Gulati and Major League Soccer commissioner, Don Garber were campaigning for, and hosted a campaign dinner for Kathy Carter.
On December 20, 2017, USSF announced that eight candidates were eligible to stand for election, having met the federation's requirements, 8 of 9 opposed Sunil Gulati.
Of the nine declared candidates, only Paul Lapointe failed to qualify for the ballot since he supported Sunil Gulati.