Head coach Mauricio Pochettino helped lead the U.S. men’s national team to a first-place finish in Group D and a round-of-32 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday.
Manu Fernandez/Associated Press
The United States’ Christian Pulisic, top center, and teammates listen to head coach Mauricio Pochettino, bottom center, during a hydration break during the World Cup Group D soccer match between the United States and Australia in Seattle on June 19.
Maddy Grassy/Associated Press
U.S. men’s national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino celebrates with his team after the FIFA World Cup 2026 round-of-32 victory Wednesday over Bosnia-Herzegovina at Levi’s Stadium.
Julio Cortez/Associated Press
U.S. men’s national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino celebrates with fans after the FIFA World Cup 2026 round-of-32 victory Wednesday over Bosnia-Herzegovina at Levi’s Stadium.
Julio Cortez/Associated Press
United States men’s national soccer team head coach Mauricio Pochettino throws out the ceremonial first pitch before a baseball game between the Seattle Mariners and the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday in Seattle.
Lindsey Wasson/Associated Press
Maybe it took the influx of the world — 48 soccer teams, thousands of foreign visitors and first- through seventh-generation American immigrants all proudly raising our origin flags — for our country to show its best self.
The cynic (hand raised) felt this was a grim time to be hosting the world’s greatest sporting event. Our government has an official policy of hatred toward immigrants, using a federal bullhorn warning the world to stay away, sowing fear and vilifying outsiders.
Yet, here we are, staging — and profiting — off the globe’s great coming together: the World Cup.
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Still, as we spent the weekend celebrating the 250th anniversary of this beautiful and fragile experiment, the outwardly silly game of kicking a ball around an expanse of grass has brought out the beauty of this country.
Instead of exposing our fractures, it has become a needed reminder of the very best of us. The very heart of us.
The embrace of newcomers and underdogs. The cheering on of different countries. The adoption of a nation like Algeria in a town like Lawrence, Kan. The thrill of learning new traditions, trying new languages, bridging gaps. Of changing perceptions.
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And maybe it took an outsider, a man learning about America on the fly, to give voice to what is possible in this country when we come together.
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Mauricio Pochettino became the winningest World Cup coach in American history on Wednesday night at Levi’s Stadium. A pretty amazing statistic for a coach who has been on the job less than two years, and a testament to the United States’ meager World Cup accomplishments.
Now the U.S. team takes on Belgium in the round of 16 in Seattle, with the chance to win a second knockout game in a single World Cup for the first time. The team will be without its star striker Folarin Balogun, sitting out due to a controversial red card, but for the first time, the country has full belief that its national team coach knows what he’s doing. So far he has pushed all the right buttons. “In Poch we trust” is the new American motto.
The man who declares himself “200% Argentine” confessed to not knowing much about the United States before he took the job in the fall of 2024. But, as so often is the case, someone looking from the outside recognizes what is different and possible about America.
From belting out “Country Roads” after the win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, as loud as any Rocky Mountain-born John Denver enthusiast, to his obsession with the moon, to his new age beliefs including that lemons absorb negative energy, Pochettino has changed the team culture, gotten his band of young men to believe and harnessed the energy of a disparate and divided country.
In the team’s locker room at Levi’s after the win, he encouraged his players by saying, “Everything is possible. Touch the moon. Touch the moon.”
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Pochettino, whose quotes are a fun dance between Spanish and English, often references the moon and the American moon landing, 57 years ago this month, as proof that anything is possible. Even winning the World Cup.
“I am the United States of America,” Pochettino told the Guardian. “I’m No. 1, the biggest, best country in the world. I get to the moon first. ‘I’m the U.S.,’ and boom! It happens.”
Pochettino’s ascent to the helm of the U.S. men’s national team happened — boom! — in a uniquely American way. Frustrated by the continued wheel-spinning of the USMNT and the terrible result in Copa America in 2024, which led to Gregg Berhalter’s dismissal, some hedge fund billionaires threw their weight — and their money — behind recruiting an elite manager. Pochettino’s salary, according to tax records, is about $6 million, but the total cost of buying out Berhalter and hiring Pochettino and his staff has been reported at as much as $20 million. At a time when billionaires have an increasingly bad rap, backing Pochettino is excellent public relations.
Pochettino told Yahoo Sports that, upon his arrival, he had “misjudged … the situation was worse than we really believed.” He found the program decidedly lacking, saying, “We receive a big punch. … We say, ‘What the f—?’”
As hosts, his team had an automatic berth and top opponents around the world were occupied with their own qualification, so it was hard to schedule elite competition. Last summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup was an opportunity for young players, especially with key veterans like Christian Pulisic opting out. Pochettino started to find players he could trust, and build a culture and a belief.
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It has taken some getting used to. He was stunned to learn that the American team usually plays in front of hostile audiences at home, which is why it schedules key games in places like Columbus, Ohio, and Kansas City, Mo., instead of major markets. He got snippy after the group loss to Turkey because the media did not congratulate him for his team winning the group, something American reporters would never do and which Pochettino good-naturedly apologized for.
After a lengthy career coaching at some of Europe’s top clubs (famously taking Tottenham to the Champions League final in 2019), this is Pochettino’s first stint running a national team. He suffered heartbreak as a player in the 2002 World Cup, when a highly touted Argentina team failed to make it out of group play. Pochettino contributed to the failure: his foul on England’s Michael Owen led to a David Beckham penalty kick, the only goal of the game, giving Argentina a crucial loss.
Pochettino has tried to impart to his players, many of whom play for big European clubs, how different it is to wear your nation’s crest.
“Represent your country, fight for your flag,” he said last week. “It’s much bigger. A different level.”
The man whose looks have been compared to Russell Crowe is embodying the “Gladiator” quote, “Strength and honor.” Are you not entertained?
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Pochettino isn’t the only member of this band of footballers imparting key lessons. In his first comments since being sent off with a red card, Balogun was asked about his feelings.
“I think it was just important to stay calm,” he said. “I never want to react out of anger and out of emotion. There’s still lots of people we’re inspiring, little kids, boys and girls who are watching. And we have to show them the correct way to handle things, even when you think it’s unjust.”
What a refreshing concept. What a role model for leadership.
This team, and this World Cup, is teaching us lessons. And, at the same time, showing America what’s possible.