Mauricio Pochettino becomes new coach of the US national soccer team

The 52-year-old comes to the USA after stints at Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur in England and Paris Saint-Germain in France. With Emma Hayes as coach of the women's team, US soccer now has two top-class coaches with a good reputation in club soccer.

“Mauricio is a world-class coach with a proven track record of developing players and achieving success at the highest levels,” U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone said in a statement. “His innovative approach to coaching and ability to inspire and connect with players make him the perfect fit.”

The men's national team endured a painful and humiliating experience this summer at the Copa America, also held in the United States. Despite being in a group that on paper they could have gotten out of, the USA ended up falling far short, being knocked out miserably in the group stage.

For some, this was a step backwards, for others it was just a confirmation of the fact that, despite its many young talents and its success in its own confederation, the team was simply not good enough for prime time.

Coach Gregg Berhalter was fired following the Copa America disaster. He had previously led the team to two CONCACAF Nations League titles and the 2021 Gold Cup before being eliminated in the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup after a 3-1 loss to the Netherlands.

Now the Pochettino era is dawning, and fans are hoping it will be even more fruitful as the United States prepares for the 2026 World Cup, which it will co-host with Mexico and Canada.

While the Argentine has not yet coached at national team level, he has managed some of the best clubs in the world and has a history of coaching under the pen of USMNT sporting director Matt Crocker, who served as head of soccer operations at Southampton when Pochettino coached the English club.

In an interview with TNT after the hire, Crocker emphasized that relationship, saying he “just reached out and called” to offer Pochettino the USMNT job.

“I think what you immediately realize with Mauricio is that he is not only an excellent coach, but also a great person, a great developer and really tactically adept,” Crocker said.

After his time in Southampton, Pochettino moved to London in 2014, where he managed the most successful Tottenham team of modern times.

With Pochettino at the helm, Tottenham finished fifth, third, second, third and fourth in the Premier League, playing a fast-paced style of football that allowed young talent like Harry Kane to flourish and also found admirers among the sport's new American fans.

The Argentine also brought Spurs back to the Champions League, leading the club on a magical run to the final in 2019, which they ultimately lost to Liverpool. He eventually left the club as the team languished down the table, as doubts grew over his relationship with the club's management and key players.

However, his performances at Spurs caught the attention of Paris Saint-Germain, the French giants who dominated the domestic league but were still desperate to add the Champions League trophy to their crown.

With the triumvirate of Kylian Mbappé, Neymar and Lionel Messi at the helm, it was hoped that Pochettino would be the man to lead PSG to Champions League triumph. Instead, he suffered the same fate as others before him and missed out on the trophy coveted by Europe's top clubs.

The team also finished second in the domestic league in Pochettino's first season, which was a minor crisis for a team that had by then become accustomed to winning the title every season. Pochettino did win the league the next season, taking the French Cup alongside his French Super Cup and Coupe de France, but that was ultimately not enough to save his job.

After his stint in the French top league, Pochettino returned to the Premier League in 2023 and landed in London again, but this time as coach of Chelsea.

This time, Pochettino was tasked with stabilising and restoring to its former glory an unstable team that had sacked a series of bosses one after the other under new American owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.

Chelsea ultimately finished sixth in a season marked by inconsistent performances and lingering questions over Pochettino's future and the effectiveness of his methods in the club's current game. The Argentine left the club by mutual consent in May this year.

Pochettino and the United States men's national team may be coming together at a perfect – or imperfect – time. Both are at a crossroads, scarred by years of demonstrating undoubted potential but then failing when it mattered most.

The United States is still trying to live up to the legacy of its “golden generation,” as many fans call it.

Yes, for the first time there is a group of young players like Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Tim Weah and Folarin Balogun getting plenty of playing time at top European clubs, but it is also a team that has consistently fallen short of the best in the world and has even struggled at times against less talented but more tenacious CONCACAF teams.

And while Pulisic, McKennie, Weah and Balogun are undoubtedly some of the USMNT's best players, this is far from a strong team. The Copa America exposed some glaring deficiencies, including at center back, full back and even goalkeeper, which has long been one of the national team's strengths.

Pochettino is not expected to perform miracles and win the next World Cup, but he will be given the task of rejuvenating a team that is struggling and desperately in need of a boost.

In 2026, they will have to reckon with at least elimination from the group. Even a later entry into the round of 16 would only be a repeat of the team's elimination in 2022, which was seen as a failure.

So does the team have what it takes to reach the quarter-finals – and maybe even the semi-finals – at the home World Cup?

Pochettino and the USA will hope so. Both their reputations will depend on it.