The U.S. men’s national team will come into the 2026 FIFA World Cup in a rare form—they’re not coached by an American.
Mauricio Pochettino, the USMNT’s manager, hails from Argentina and will lead the team on home soil this summer, as the first non-American boss since Germany’s Jürgen Klinsmann led the Stars and Stripes at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Born in Murphy, Argentina, Pochettino is one of the most highly regarded coaches in global soccer, and it was considered a massive coup when the USMNT landed him in 2024 to prepare for their 2026 World Cup run. In the past, he has managed the likes of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar at Ligue 1 powerhouse club Paris Saint-Germain. He has also coached other top clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur, Southampton and Chelsea in the Premier League and Espanyol in La Liga, before taking on his first international management job with the USMNT.
His appointment came at a critical time for the USMNT. At the 2022 World Cup, the Stars and Stripes lost to the Netherlands 3–1 in the round of 16. The team then went on to have a dismal group stage exit at the U.S.-hosted 2024 Copa América—a tournament with the best South American, North American and Central American teams — leading to the end of Gregg Berhalter’s second term on the touchline.
After those disappointments, the hope is that an established coach like Pochettino can lead the burgeoning team to massive success this summer, which would make for a formative moment for the sport in the U.S.
Why Isn’t the USMNT Coach a U.S. Citizen?
Unlike players, who must have passports from the country they represent in international soccer, managers and staff members don’t face the same requirements. Pochettino is the 19th USMNT manager in history who is not an American and will be the second non-U.S. citizen to coach the team at a home World Cup, after Serbia’s (neé Yugoslavia) Bora Milutinović led the team at the 1994 edition.
Other nations will have coaches from outside their countries as well, including co-hosts Canada, led by Wisconsin-born Jesse Marsch, and England, led by Germany’s Thomas Tuchel.
What is Mauricio Pochettino's Record with the USMNT?
The USMNT has enjoyed mixed results in the first 25 games under Pochettino with a record of 14-9-2, after he made his debut on Oct. 12, 2024 with a 2–0 win over Panama. In competitive matches, the team has been exceptionally disappointing, losing to Panama and Canada to finish fourth in the 2024-25 Concacaf Nations League and also falling short of the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup.
Those experiences, however, have been formative. He trialed over 80 players in numerous formations leading up to the World Cup and settled on his strongest 26-man roster for soccer’s grandest stage.
Did Mauricio Pochettino Play in a World Cup?
Before his managerial days, Pochettino played as a center back with Argentina’s Newell’s Old Boys and clubs across Europe, including Espanyol, Paris Saint-Germain and Bordeaux before retiring in 2006. In that time, he also amassed 20 appearances for Argentina and played on the biggest stage at the 1999 Copa América and the 2002 World Cup.
How Well Does Pochettino Think the USMNT Can Do?
Pochettino made headlines early in 2025 when he told his players, “Why not us?” when it came to expectations for the World Cup. While the USMNT faces an immense uphill battle to win its first World Cup title, there is hope that the team's talent can lead to a deep run.
Although Pochettino hasn’t explicitly mentioned what that deep run can be—and any person who competes at a World Cup has visions of winning it—a quarterfinal berth would stand as a remarkable point. Since making the semifinals at the first-ever World Cup in 1930, the USMNT has only cracked the quarterfinal stage once in 2002.
“It’s not that we need to perform now, it’s that we need to perform always,” Pochettino said in March in the final preparation camp. “Every time we are in the national team camp, we need to perform... Why not us? If I don’t believe in you, it’s difficult, and if we don’t believe in you, it’s difficult to compete. Why not us?”
