The Winners, Losers From Mauricio Pochettino’s New USMNT Contract

The U.S. men’s national team manager has penned a new deal through 2030, which comes with the promise of a different strategy.

Mauricio Pochettino is eyeing up the 2030 World Cup. | Al Sermeno/ISI Photos/Getty Images

Never one to willingly offer a lack of clarity, Mauricio Pochettino was at pains to stress that this was a new contract for a new chapter that would come with a new plan.

“Now it’s a fresh start,” he told assembled media after it was announced that the U.S. men’s national team had secured its manager through the 2030 World Cup. “It’s a good moment to refresh that mindset, to refresh that culture and philosophy, and to start to create a new era of USA soccer.”

Pochettino has been tasked with a more holistic role compared to his first stint, which was exclusively focused on the relatively short-term goal of enjoying a successful World Cup on home soil. In this quest to turn the hulking tanker that is U.S. Soccer, the Argentine coach has promised “to start from zero.”

Some will welcome this news more than others.

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Winners

USMNT Profile

The dream goes on. pic.twitter.com/g3WeMpOc5C

— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) August 3, 2026

The glee radiated out of U.S. Soccer CEO and secretary general JT Batson’s press release. “I couldn’t be more excited that Mauricio and team are committed to partnering with all of us to do the hard work to bring those ambitions to life,” he beamed.

Securing Pochettino’s signature back in September 2024 was enough of a coup for the USSF. Convincing the former Champions League finalist and Premier League runner-up to go from a club career which included managing the likes of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Harry Kane to having Tim Ream as his captain is an even bigger compliment to the federation (and its budget).

In a market so unashamedly obsessed by individuals, having a high-profile manager is always going to be framed as a positive in the U.S., even if that shouldn’t be the key takeaway.

The World Cup rammed home the idea that celebrity coaches can be overrated; Thomas Tuchel, Carlo Ancelotti and Pochettino himself all fell by the wayside, while the final was contested by two products of Spain and Argentina’s national associations.

Luis de la Fuente and Lionel Scaloni were both forged in the image of their teams after spending years coaching various age categories. However, they had established histories to learn from; harnessing the Spanish passing game and spontaneity of Argentinian soccer. In what is effectively an admission of a lack of this legacy, the USSF have tasked Pochettino with instilling this style himself. If he has the energy to jump into this daunting undertaking, it could benefit U.S. Soccer in the long run.

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Gio Reyna and Other Misfits

Gio Reyna got his World Cup moment in the dying stages against Paraguay. | Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Pochettino has his sharp edges but is a romantic at heart. The proud idealist has shown a chronic capacity to overlook prosaic factors like regular minutes and tangible output if he has a gut feeling about a player. Gio Reyna is the greatest example of that soft touch.

After making a grand total of five starts for a Borussia Mönchengladbach side which spent most of the Bundesliga season circling the division’s drain, Reyna was handed a World Cup call-up. “He has the quality,” Pochettino explained of an impish talent who can be devastating in every sense: highly effective yet highly frustrating. “I think he has characteristics [that are] different.”

Reyna, who at 23 will still be in his peak years by the next World Cup, is an obvious winner but so is every other talented maverick that is coming through the ranks.

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U.S. Fans

USMNT fans reveled in the run of the round of 16. | Kohjiro Kinno/Sports Illustrated

Pochettino’s plight to convince the U.S. public to care about soccer has been one of the main themes of his tenure. Based upon the sugar rush of the summer’s support, he has won that battle.

Yet, the focus won’t stop there. Pochettino’s high-energy style of play is inherently infectious and for all the talk of change, the tactician admitted that there will be “some similarities.” One of those through lines will be the importance of the crowd, particularly if the 2028 Copa América is hosted on U.S. soil, as many expect.

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The Country’s Youngsters

The USMNT topped Group D with a match to spare. | Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Pochettino is taking a long-term view to this appointment, so naturally his focus will be on developing the youth coming through the system already. “What we are seeing is an amazing potential,” he told U.S. Soccer. “New talented players start to appear, 16-, 17-, 18-, 19-year-olds, young kids with the possibility and the potential to be important players in the next World Cup.”

Alex Freeman is already leading the charge of this youthful movement after impressing so convincingly at the World Cup. There are high hopes for the likes of Zavier Gozo (19) and Cavan Sullivan (16), while the hulking figure of Neil Pierre could be another name to watch out for.

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Losers

USMNT’s Fringe Players

Toronto FC’s Josh Sargent scored his second goal for the club against Philadelphia. | Vaughan Ridley/Getty Images

“Every player will have the possibility to join us if they perform,” Pochettino promised, but he wouldn’t be the first manager to, subconsciously or otherwise, hold on to decisions made in the past.

Pochettino handed 62 different players a cap during his first 22-month stint in charge of the USMNT. Yet, some were afforded more opportunities than others. Josh Sargent, the team’s starting striker to begin the 2022 World Cup, won just four caps under Pochettino and found out by email that he would not even make the 2026 roster. Despite the manager’s willingness to look favorably upon MLS talent, it would appear unlikely that the Toronto FC forward will win his way back into the setup.

Yunus Musah is another former gem to have dropped off the international radar under Pochettino. The versatile midfielder’s last appearance for the USMNT was in March 2025, a drought he was unable to break despite playing semi-regularly for Champions League participants Atalanta last season. Fellow World Cup snubs Tanner Tessmann and Diego Luna probably weren’t thrilled by the prospect of trying to win Pochettino over again either.

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U.S. Soccer Budget

Mauricio Pochettino is one of the world’s highest paid international managers. | Sarah Stier/FIFA/Getty Images

Pochettino was already one of the best paid coaches in international soccer before his new contract. U.S. Soccer tax filings showed that he made $2.5 million in bonuses alone from the last public set of accounts. It remains to be seen if there has been an increase on that pay packet—although that is a common assumption—yet it already represents a record outlay that has required external donations from several wealthy benefactors.

There is an argument that some of those vast expenses could be better used to invest in a wildly derided infrastructure. One of the chief complaints about the stymied development of U.S. talent is the pay-to-play model which immediately shrinks the pool of young kids who can continue playing the sport.

Pochettino’s vast salary now entitles him to address these inefficiencies, but isn’t the distribution of this capital just another example of complicating the attempt at a solution?

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Aging Guard

Matt Turner was the starter at the 2022 World Cup. | John Dorton/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images

One of the consequences of taking this long-term vision of the future is a need to jettison the aging guard. The 2026 roster was largely made up of players in their late 20s, right in the prime of their careers. Yet, by the time 2030 rolls around, they will have ticked past 30, leaving an awkward gap between generations which could very well result in a mass cull.

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Pochettino’s Club Ambitions

Mauricio Pochettino led the USMNT to the World Cup round of 16 in 2026. | Luke Hales/Getty Images

“The Premier League is the best in the world,” Pochettino declared last December. “Of course I miss it. I am so happy in the USA, but I am always thinking about returning one day. It is the most competitive league, and of course I would love to come back again.”

It’s not yet clear what type of financial penalty is baked into Pochettino’s new contract, but if it’s anything like his last agreement, any interested club will have to pay through the nose to prise the Argentine away from the U.S. That could create a sense of bitterness should Pochettino miss out on an inviting club job because of his contractual obligations to the USSF.

By the time the 2030 World Cup is wrapped up, the former Tottenham Hotspur, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea manager will be 58. David Moyes is the only current Premier League boss older than that, while 80% of the division’s coaches are in their 40s or younger. Jürgen Klopp was 56 when he quit Liverpool, citing fatigue, while a 55-year-old Pep Guardiola stepped down from Manchester City this summer.

There is every chance that Pochettino has missed his shot at a glorious English homecoming. Only time will tell if that is a consequence he comes to regret.

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