CINCINNATI (AP) — Former Tottenham and Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino was hired Tuesday to succeed Gregg Berhalter as U.S. men’s national team coach, 21 months before the Americans host the 2026 World Cup.
A 52-year-old Argentine, Pochettino became the 10th U.S. coach in 14 years and its first foreign-born leader since Jurgen Klinsmann from 2011-16. Pochettino has coached Espanyol in Spain (2009-12), Southampton (2013-14), Tottenham (2014-19) and Chelsea (2023-24) in England and Paris Saint-Germain in France (2021-22), leaving after winning a Ligue 1 title.
“It’s about the journey that this team and this country are on,” Pochettino said in a statement released by the USSF. “The energy, the passion, and the hunger to achieve something truly historic here — those are the things that inspired me.”
Pochettino had an initial meeting with USSF CEO JT Batson and sporting director Matt Crocker in Barcelona that stretched for five hours and had been in negotiations since mid-August. Crocker was Southampton’s academy director when Pochettino started at that club.
While the contract length wasn't specified, the USSF said Pochettino will lead the team at the World Cup.
“Mauricio is a serial winner with a deep passion for player development and a proven ability to build cohesive and competitive teams,” Crocker said in a statement. “I am confident that he is the right choice to harness the immense potential within our talented squad."
Pochettino was to arrive in the U.S. on Wednesday, two days before a news conference in New York. He will take over for friendlies against Panama on Oct. 12 at Austin, Texas, and at Mexico three days later, then lead his first competitive matches in a two-leg CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal in November.
“The one thing that I found a little funny was the statement that we were going to get a guy that basically wins everything,” said former U.S. goalkeeper Kasey Keller, now an ESPN analyst. “It's not like Pochettino has Jose Mourinho’s track record, but he’s obviously had a good level of success, particularly at places like Southampton, Tottenham, places that didn’t have the largest budget to go buy all the greatest players they ever wanted.
“He knows how to work within in a group that might have particular limitations,” Keller added. “We have to admit that we’re still not France, Brazil, Germany, Argentina.”
Pochettino arrives with high expectations from a USSF management and fan base that believe the player pool is capable of far more than its No. 16 world ranking.
Berhalter was fired on July 10, a week after the Americans were eliminated in the first round of the Copa America. He was hired in December 2018, was allowed to leave when his contract expired following a 3-1 loss to the Netherlands in the second round of the 2022 World Cup, then was rehired in June 2023 to return in September.
Pochettino's salary was not announced. The USSF said his hiring was supported by a leadership gift from Kenneth C. Griffin, the CEO of the hedge fund Citadel, and his philanthropic entity Griffin Catalyst; with additional support from Scott Goodwin, managing partner of the asset management firm Diameter Capital Partners, and USSF commercial partners.
Mikey Varas, a Berhalter assistant, coached the team for Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Canada in an exhibition and headed the Americans for Tuesday night's game against New Zealand.
At the World Cup, the U.S. will be a seeded team as a co-host, which means it likely won't have any nations ranked among the top nine in its first-round group in a tournament expanded to 48 teams. If the Americans win the group, they probably would not face a top-level opponent in the new round of 32. The U.S. has not reached the quarterfinals since 2002.
Pochettino is likely to have his full player pool available for just eight one-week training periods before the team gathers ahead of the World Cup. The Americans are thin at goalkeeper and central defense and have had difficulty maintaining on-field discipline.
"I see a group of players full of talent and potential, and together, we’re going to build something special that the whole nation can be proud of,” Pochettino said.
Pochettino was a central defender who played for Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina and Espanyol, PSG and Bordeaux in Europe from the late 1980s until 2006. He made 20 appearances for Argentina, playing at the 1999 Copa América and the 2002 World Cup, where his foul of Michael Owen led to David Beckham’s penalty kick in Argentina’s 1-0 group-stage loss.
After retiring as a player, he became a coach in Espanyol’s system, took over as first-team coach in January 2009 and helped the team avoid relegation. Pochettino was fired in November 2012 with the team in last place and was hired two months later by English club Southampton.
Pochettino moved in May 2014 to Tottenham, which reached the final of the 2015 League Cup, losing to Chelsea, and the 2019 Champions League, losing to Liverpool. He was fired in November 2019 with Spurs in 14th place and replaced by Jose Mourinho.
PSG hired Pochettino in January 2021. The team finished second in the league and lost to Manchester City in the Champions League semifinals but won the French Cup, beating Monaco 2-0 in the final. Led by Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe, PSG clinched the 2022 Ligue 1 title with four games to spare but lost to Real Madrid in the Champions League round of 16.
Pochettino left PSG at the end of the 2022-23 season, then was hired by Chelsea in June 2023 after the club finished 12th. Chelsea lost the League Cup final to Liverpool and finished sixth in the Premier League, missing out on the Champions League. Pochettino left two days after the final match.
