United States men’s national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino has spoken on a variety of topics, including the state of football in America and what has happened to his former club Tottenham Hotspur.
Pochettino, 54, took the USMNT job in the summer of 2024 — shortly after leaving another Premier League side, Chelsea, after only one season — and is approaching his biggest challenge in the role: a home World Cup.
Speaking on The Overlap podcast on Thursday, Pochettino revealed his hopes for the tournament, why “women are ahead of men” in the U.S., and his views on why “massive club” Spurs, whom he managed for six years until November 2019, are facing relegation from the Premier League.
World Cup – ‘Why not?’
The USMNT is approaching the World Cup with star player Christian Pulisic out of form, yet to score in 2026, and having lost twice in recent friendlies — or “non-official games” as Pochettino calls them — against Belgium and Portugal.
Unlike the 45 teams travelling to the U.S., Canada and Mexico in the summer, the USMNT has not played any qualification games with real jeopardy — having automatically qualified as co-hosts.
“We knew it would be a problem, how to approach the games, because we have already qualified,” Pochettino said on Thursday. “Friendly games is what you play with your friends.
“We are fighting to change that mindset, (we) need to create that habit that we are fighting.”
Nevertheless, when asked if the USMNT could win the World Cup he said: “Why not? It is all about belief. Look at Morocco (reaching the semi-finals) in Qatar — I think anything is possible in football.”
The USMNT lost to Belgium with Pulisic out of form (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
The American Messi
According to the United States Census Bureau, its population is over 342 million. On the podcast, Pochettino spoke about being asked by people involved in U.S. soccer why America has yet to find its Lionel Messi.
“One of the things that is key is the emotional relationship with the game,” he said. “The kids in America don’t develop (that relationship) until they are 11, 12 or 13 — that is the difference with the other countries.
“I know (in) Argentina, the way that I developed my emotional relationship with football is when I started to walk, before I started to walk. That is a problem because (in the U.S.) you need to go to a school, go to a private school — because the relationship is with basketball, with American football.”
How do you solve that issue? “It’s about creating more spaces for the kids to go and play,” Pochettino said. “That is football, it’s not a factory, the ball teaches you not the coach.”
In the sense of developing elite soccer, “women are ahead of us, of men, in America”, he said, as co-presenter ex-England midfielder Jill Scott raised how the U.S. women’s national team has been dominant on the world stage.
‘Very sad’ Spurs
Pochettino spent six years in north London with highs of a second-place Premier League finish in 2016-17 and leading the club to their first Champions League final in 2019.
Just over six years after his departure, they sit in the relegation zone with only four games left to bridge the two points to safety.
Pochettino’s former team are at risk of Premier League relegation (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
“It is really sad,” he said. “I really love Tottenham; it’s one of the most important parts of my life as a coach and in my personal life too. I can talk from my experience in Tottenham and what I can tell you for me it’s one of the biggest clubs in the world.
“Tottenham is a massive club with a massive following.”
But why was it such a “difficult situation” when he was there? “We went 18 months without one signing, that was a record in the Premier League,” Pochettino said. “We had money to spend but not the type of money to improve to win, we challenged but we missed this last step.
“We wanted to sign (Sadio) Mane and (Georginio) Wijnaldum and for different reasons, we couldn’t achieve that. The problem is the assessment was coming from outside the club not inside — people start to intoxicate things.”
As well as Spurs, Pochettino has also coached Chelsea in the Premier League, and says he has unfinished business in the English top flight.
“One day, yes because I really like England,” he replied, when asked if he wants to return to the Premier League. “I think my human profile and coach profile match very well with the Premier League and with the culture, the idea, the idiosyncrasy, and the philosophy.”
