Eric Wynalda -- the former soccer star who was once the all-time leading scorer for the USMNT -- says his home just burned down in the California wildfires ... and he had to watch it on live TV.
Flames have ravaged Southern California since Thursday afternoon ... and Wynalda says his house was one of the casualties of the destruction.
In fact ... the former MLS star tells the San Diego Union-Tribune he had to watch it burn down on a local news station after he evacuated early Friday morning.
"We lost our home but we are safe," Wynalda confirmed on his Twitter page .