Mauricio Pochettino officially announced as USMNT coach; replaces Gregg Berhalter | News, scores, highlights, stats & rumors

Expectations for Pochettino’s tenure will be high. As well as guiding Chelsea into the 2023-24 season, the former player also had spells at Espanyol, Southampton, Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain, most notably leading Spurs to the Champions League final in 2018-19 and PSG to a Ligue 1 title in 2021-22.

Meanwhile, the USMNT stagnated under Berhalter’s watch. While the Americans did advance past the group stage of the 2022 World Cup (after failing to qualify for the tournament at all in 2018), they failed to build on that record in the years since, most notably by failing to advance past the group stage of the 2024 Copa América despite hosting the event.

Berhalter’s main achievements were reaching the knockout stages of the World Cup, winning the CONCACAF Nations League in 2021 and 2024, the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2021 and posting a solid record against rivals Mexico (four wins).

But the US struggled against stiff competition during the Berhalter era and with the country set to co-host the 2026 World Cup with Canada and Mexico, Pochettino is expected to outperform the competition.

The United States appears to be in the midst of a golden generation, with promising young players like Christian Pulisic, Timothy Weah, Yunus Musah, Folarin Balogun and Gio Reyna, while promising young players like Cavan Sullivan are waiting in the wings.

The hope is that under Pochettino the United States will move one step closer to becoming a world football power. His signing is undoubtedly a high-profile addition and a statement of intent from the USSF.