USMNT reportedly hires Mauricio Pochettino as next head coach ahead of 2026 World Cup

The U.S. men’s national team has its replacement for Gregg Berhalter.

The U.S. National Soccer Team is hiring former Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain coach Mauricio Pochettino to be the next head coach of the men’s national soccer team (USMNT), according to multiple reports. Pochettino will take over for Berhalter, who was fired after the team’s elimination from the Copa América last month, and lead the team as it prepares to co-host the World Cup in less than two years.

Pochettino, 52, has emerged as a serious candidate in recent days. He reportedly met with US Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker in Europe last month about the job. Other names reportedly considered include former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, former England boss Gareth Southgate and Hoffenheim manager Pellegrino Matarazzo.

Pochettino was most recently head coach of Chelsea, but he left the Premier League club after just one year in charge following the team’s failure to qualify for the Champions League last season. Pochettino also won three trophies, including a Ligue 1 title, during his one-year stint at Paris Saint-Germain.

Pochettino made his Premier League debut in 2013 at Southampton, where he initially worked alongside Crocker. He then spent more than five years at Tottenham, leading them to the Champions League final in 2019.

The U.S. national team fired Berhalter last month, just a week after being eliminated from the 2024 Copa América in the group stage. The team managed just three points in that phase and failed to advance to the knockout stage, marking the U.S.’s last disappointing exit under Berhalter.

With his coach now in place, Pochettino will look to lead the U.S. national team into one of its most important stretches in decades. The U.S. will co-host the 2026 World Cup with Canada and Mexico, where all eyes will be on the program in a way they haven’t in some time. Berhalter led the U.S. to the round of 16 in Qatar in 2022 after the team failed to qualify at all in Russia 2018, but the pressure will be on to make a strong run at home.

As perhaps the most high-profile USMNT coach in nearly a decade, Crocker and US Soccer clearly believe Pochettino is capable of doing just that.