A new chapter for United States soccer is about to start, led by an Argentine coach who is expected to achieve great results at the 2026 World Cup hosted in America.
Former Tottenham and Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino will make his debut with the U.S. team in two friendly matches, facing Panama on Saturday night in Austin and Mexico three days later in Guadalajara.
Pochettino was not part of the first 26 matches in the World Cup qualifying cycle, which were managed by Gregg Berhalter and three interim coaches. These upcoming games mark the beginning of eight international windows where Pochettino will assess players and develop strategies before the team prepares for the 2026 tournament.
Pochettino emphasized the need for patience. He and his staff, along with the players, have spent this week training and getting to know each other.
Success will be determined by how well the staff and players build their relationships, stay organized, and communicate clear expectations.
“Of course, soccer is about to compete and to win. Our fans, for sure they want to win,” Pochettino said on Friday. “At the same time, they need to understand our first contact with the whole organization, players, we cannot push too much. … We need to give time to the team to adapt to us.”
In their previous encounter, Panama defeated the U.S. in July during the Copa America after Tim Weah was sent off with a red card in the 18th minute for hitting an opponent. The U.S. has only won in Mexico once, during a friendly at Estadio Azteca in 2012.
Weah is among several regular players who will miss these matches due to injuries, along with Sergiño Dest, Tyler Adams, Gio Reyna, and Folarin Balogun, as well as occasional starters Johnny Cardoso and Chris Richards.
The U.S. automatically qualifies for the 2026 World Cup as a co-host with Mexico and Canada. Pochettino’s goal is to take the U.S. team far in a tournament where they haven’t reached the quarterfinals since 2002 and the semifinals since 1930.
The 52-year-old Argentine has coached teams like Espanyol in Spain (2009-12), Southampton (2013-14), Tottenham (2014-19), Chelsea (2023-24), and Paris Saint-Germain in France (2021-22), where he left after winning a league title with stars like Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, and Neymar.
However, this is his first experience as a national team coach. He is the first foreign coach for the U.S. team since Jurgen Klinsmann, who held the position from 2011 to 2016.
“The challenge for us is to create a team,” Pochettino said.
Pochettino’s first roster includes Christian Pulisic, who has scored five goals in seven Serie A matches for AC Milan this season. He became the first American to score in four straight games in a top five European league since Roy Wegerle of Queens Park Rangers in September 1990.
Pochettino praised Pulisic, calling him one of the best attacking players in the world right now.
“It’s nice to hear. I still have a long way to go to reach the top, the very top. I think I’m on a good path,” Pulisic said.
However, Pulisic has been playing a lot lately, and Pochettino mentioned that he arrived at training camp feeling tired.
Goalkeeper Zack Steffen, who was surprisingly left out of the 2022 World Cup roster by Berhalter, is back after revitalizing his career with Colorado following a tough time at Manchester City.
Pulisic and other players described their first training camp with Pochettino as “intense.”
“Every coach has a different style. The training has definitely been intense … which has been good. I think we need to figure out exactly how we want to play,” Pulisic said.
Regarding the expectations for the upcoming two matches, he said, “I don’t like to put expectations. Of course we want to go out and get results. We want to win both games. But the main thing is getting to know each other and feeling comfortable as staff and as players, and just feeling confident moving forward for bigger events to come.”
Defender Tim Ream, who is 37 and the oldest player on the roster, mentioned this week that the players were ready to learn from the experience.
“The message is that he wants to win, right? (Pochettino) has his principles, he has his ideas, but at the end of the day, it’s about winning,” Ream said. “And you know, it’s important to have that mentality. It’s important to have that mindset going forward and leading into these games and beyond that.”
