The U.S. men’s national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino has revealed that he would happily hand President Donald Trump the World Cup trophy should they pull off an unlikely feat on home soil, laughing off the hypothetical extravagance of the ceremony as typically American.
Were Pochettino to find himself up on the winners’ stage this summer, he would have seen the USMNT become the first non-European or South American team to win the World Cup. In the even of that historic achievement, there is every chance that Trump would find himself close by.
The President infamously remained on the crowded stage during Chelsea’s celebrations at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, inspiring the ire of Cole Palmer after the Premier League side defeated Paris Saint-Germain at the MetLife Stadium. The 2026 World Cup final will also take place at the same New Jersey venue.
"For sure, I will give [it to him if we] win. I will give him the trophy, and he can lift the trophy for sure, no problem for me,” Pochettino said in a recent interview with the New York Post. “I think the president was [at the Club World Cup] and supporting soccer at a massive event.
“Maybe he’s not a soccer person, and he was a little bit in a situation where he didn’t know what to do [in the celebrations], but it was funny. It was funny. That is America.”
Trump, who has involved himself in World Cup planning by leading the White House World Cup Task Force and pushing for the World Cup draw to be at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., is expected to have a significant presence at the tournament. Meanwhile, Mexican and Canadian leaders Claudia Sheinbaum and Mark Carney are also likely to appear throughout next summer.
Pochettino, Trump Have Not Met
Pochettino hasn’t had a chance to interact with the 45th and 47th President after just over a year leading the USMNT, the two could run into each other at the World Cup draw on Dec. 5.
“Maybe we’ll see now at the draw, if there is the possibility to meet him and to say hello,” Pochettino added. “In case, to meet him, I want to say thank you for everything that he’s doing, for soccer America...I think that is great because he’s showing his support for soccer.”
Before the draw and a potential meeting with President Trump, Pochettino will lead the USMNT into the final two friendly matches of 2025, taking on Paraguay on Nov. 15 in Philadelphia and Uruguay on Nov. 18 in Tampa.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘That Is America’—Mauricio Pochettino Reveals World Cup Plans for President Trump.
