The U.S. men’s national team has its replacement for Gregg Berhalter.
U.S. Soccer is hiring former Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain boss Mauricio Pochettino as the next USMNT head coach, according to multiple reports. Pochettino will take over for Berhalter, who was fired after their Copa América exit last month, and lead the team as it prepares to co-host the World Cup in less than two years.
Mauricio Pochettino becomes USA coach, focus on building up to 2026 World Cup as hosts. Great job for Poch, great hire for USMNT
— Mark Ogden (@MarkOgden_) August 15, 2024
Pochettino, 52, had emerged as a strong candidate in recent days, and he reportedly met with U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker in Europe last month about the job. Other names that were reportedly considered were former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp, former England coach Gareth Southgate and Hoffenheim manager Pellegrino Matarazzo.
Pochettino most recently was the head coach at Chelsea, though he split with the Premier League club after just a year on the job after they failed to qualify for the Champions League last season. Pochettino won three trophies, including a Ligue 1 title, during his year-long stint with Paris Saint-Germain before that, too.
Pochettino got his start in the Premier League in 2013 at Southampton, where he first worked alongside Crocker. He then spent more than five years with Tottenham, who he led to the Champions League final in 2019.
The USMNT fired Berhalter last month, just one week after they were knocked out of the 2024 Copa América in the group stage. The team managed just three points in that round and failed to make it to the knockout stage, which marked the latest disappointing exit for the United States under Berhalter’s watch.
With their coach now in place, Pochettino will attempt to lead the USMNT into one of the most important stretches it’s had in decades. The United States will co-host the 2026 World Cup with Canada and Mexico, where all eyes will be on the program like it hasn’t seen in quite some time. Berhalter got the United States to the Round of 16 at Qatar in 2022, which came after the team failed to qualify at all in Russia in 2018, but the pressure will be on to make a deep run at home.
As he’s perhaps the highest profile USMNT coach in nearly a decade, Crocker and U.S. Soccer clearly think Pochettino is capable of pulling that off.
