Mauricio Pochettino on Next USMNT Stage: ‘It’s a Fresh Start’
The U.S. Men’s National Team head coach prepares for the first international matches in the 2030 FIFA World Cup cycle
Mauricio Pochettino ushered in the next stage of his tenure as head coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team, defining this new chapter differently than his previous two years at the helm.
“The headline needs to be a new start, a fresh start,” he told reporters earlier this week in a roundtable discussion.
That new start commences later this month with the first camp since Pochettino signed a new contract with U.S. Soccer in August that will keep him head coach through 2030. Coming off a historic run at FIFA World Cup 2026, Pochettino became the winningest U.S. manager in World Cup history and led the USMNT to the program’s first knockout-stage victory since 2002.
Now, with a World Cup campaign behind him and a new deal signed, Pochettino has set his sights on the next four years, which leads into the next FIFA World Cup in Morocco, Portugal and Spain with games in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
“The project is 2030,” he said. “That needs to be our aim…the next camp is going to be an opportunity to bring in players that can be involved in that four-year process with the possibility to arrive to 2030 in the best condition.”
That journey begins later this month and features four games versus Peru, Chile, Mexico and Canada. The four matches will take place in cities that did not host the World Cup this summer – Orlando, Fla., St. Louis, Mo., Glendale, Ariz., and Minneapolis, Minn.
Pochettino said that the 26-player roster for this camp will be announced Sept. 17 and include a mix between experienced and young players.
“We need to create a group of players that [is] professional and compete in the way that we expect that they need to compete,” Pochettino said. “With the talented players and young player that we have ahead, we need to be right and to work with the national team with all the coaches, youth coaches, all the organization of the coaches... to integrate in the best way.”
With player development a major focus, Pochettino also said that the USMNT “needs to be competitive,” and win games in this busy four-year window. Concacaf Nations League takes place later this fall as well as the Concacaf Gold Cup in 2027 and 2029. Additionally, the U.S. will compete in World Cup qualifying, unlike the previous cycle where the U.S. automatically qualified as one of the three host nations. Qualifying for FIFA World Cup 2030 begins as early as 2027.
The Summer Olympics will also light a torch in 2028 in Los Angeles, Calif. The U-23 Men’s National Team, led by head coach Steve Cherundolo, who was appointed in July, will compete in the Olympics in men’s soccer. With this group potentially pouring into the senior National Team, and a chance to create more host country magic, Pochettino places high value on this competition as well.
“We have a core of young players that need to play the Olympic Games because I think it's an objective for our Federation and for the country to be a contender for the gold medal,” Pochettino said.
For the first time in his international coaching career, Pochettino will have a full World Cup cycle to prepare for the next. Before arriving to U.S. Soccer, Pochettino spent his career at the club level, building a renowned pedigree with stints at top European clubs such as Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain. Pochettino was originally hired to coach the U.S. in September 2024, giving him less than two years in charge before the World Cup kicked off on home soil.
In an abbreviated time, Pochettino and U.S. Soccer made history. The USMNT led by Pochettino finished atop Group D with one match to spare. They captivated the hearts of millions of spirited Americans, who celebrated wins singing “Country Roads, Take Me Home,” as they welcomed the tournament on American soil for the first time since 1994.
With four years until the next FIFA World Cup, Pochettino says everything he’s outlined makes his job completely different than when he arrived two years ago. Though he called the task a “massive job,” it’s one he’s excited to take on.
“We are so excited to be together and be in this project,” he said. “Helping the young kids to become more mature, to grow in the right direction, that is most important because we can focus to provide all the tools for them to be build their base right and in the way that they are they are going to build the path to the first team. There are plenty of things that we are very busy working [on], but [it’s] exciting.”
All of that work is building toward top-to-bottom alignment that strengthens the USMNT’s presence on the global stage.
“The Federation is doing a fantastic job creating an amazing pattern about how to evolve and develop the sport in the country,” Pochettino said. “[They are] creating amazing facilities in Atlanta to have access not only [to] the players but the coaches and everyone... to evolve in that sport, in that business. We need to be aligned all together in our principles and all the concepts that we need to improve if we want to be competitive in every single moment.”