Mauricio Pochettino recently became the US national team coach. With the hosts of the 2026 World Cup, the prominent coach has big goals for the tournament in his own country – and wants to strengthen the belief in winning the title
The US Soccer Federation has unveiled a prominent coach in Mauricio Pochettino. The new US national soccer coach commented on the title ambitions and is aiming for nothing less than winning the home World Cup in just under two years. “We have to believe that we can win. Not just one game, but the World Cup. We want the players to think big from day one,” said the Argentine at his official presentation to the US federation on Friday.
Pochettino led Tottenham Hotspur to the Champions League final in 2019 and was most recently at Chelsea FC. Overall, he and his team had already gained a lot of experience at various clubs, but now they were expecting a challenge that would take them out of their comfort zone. “We not only want to achieve something together, but also find a new approach to soccer, which has always been attractive to us from afar.”
The Argentinian succeeds Gregg Berhalter. The former Germany legionnaire (Energie Cottbus, 1860 Munich) was doomed at the beginning of July after six years in office when he was eliminated in the group stage of the Copa America in his own country.
The USA will co-host the 2026 World Cup with neighboring Mexico and Canada, but the majority of the matches will take place in the host country of the 1994 finals. Thirty years ago, the US boys reached the round of 16; eight years later in Japan and South Korea, the team was only knocked out by Germany in the round of the best eight teams. Historically, the USA’s best result at the world tournament was reaching the semi-finals at the very first World Cup in 1930.
