Mauricio Pochettino plots USMNT’s ‘fresh start’ as focus shifts to 2030 World Cup

Mauricio Pochettino said Monday that he plans to select a mix of young and experienced players for his first U.S. national team camp since the round-of-16 loss at the World Cup, a four-match home slate beginning late this month.

Pochettino — who last month signed a new contract through the 2030 tournament — will name his squad of about 26 players Sept. 17 for the friendlies against Peru on Sept. 26 in Orlando; Chile on Sept. 29 in St. Louis; Mexico on Oct. 3 in Greater Phoenix; and Canada on Oct. 6 in St. Paul.

“For us now it’s about not only to think about today, but also to think about the future and 2030,” he said in a video call with a dozen reporters from his home in London. “It’s important also to see and to assess different players.”

Pochettino emphasized that “the objective is 2030, the World Cup, and the idea now is about starting the work.”

He called the 16-day camp “the opportunity to bring players that can be involved in that four-year process with the possibility to arrive in the best condition” in 2030.

The goal is to strike a balance with experienced players and young players who can “fit together and start to work, and how the young kids start to manage the pressure to play in the first team,” he added.

Looking at the big picture, the Argentine-born coach said, “we need to work for the present because we need to win games; we need to be competitive. But it’s a different approach than the last period when we arrived [about 18 months before the World Cup]. It’s going to be new – a new process, new project, new rules, new principles. The headline needs to be that it is a new start, a fresh start.”

United States head coach Mauricio Pochettino gestures as he walks off the pitch after United States defeated Bosnia in the World Cup round of 32 soccer match between the United States and Bosnia in Santa Clara, Calif., near San Francisco, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner) — For the first time as USMNT coach, Mauricio Pochettino has time on his side.
(AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

A mix of veterans and new faces

Pochettino declined to address specific players, except to say Noahkai Banks, a highly regarded center back for Augsburg in the Bundesliga, remains undecided about whether to represent the U.S. or Germany.

The U.S. Soccer Federation is “working with all the dual nationals,” he said. “That human connection is important because if one day they feel they want to fight and to be part of our national team – and if we consider they deserve to be involved – of course, we are going to call.”

As for the upcoming camp, several regulars, such as Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Folarin Balogun, are either injured or just returning from injury, a situation that might preclude their selection.

Pochettino also said he might allow players who recently moved overseas from Major League Soccer, such as Middlesbrough’s Sebastian Berhalter and Max Arfsten, to stay behind and continue their club adaptation. Additionally, he said he needs to bring along young players carefully and, on a case-by-case basis, avoid rushing them into the national team.

Zavier Gozo, a 19-year-old winger who recently moved to Crystal Palace from Real Salt Lake, might fall into each of those past two categories.

“We are very happy to have all these potential good players,” Pochettino said. “Only we need to be careful. When you are young, of course, you need to be confident. You need to have trust in yourself, but there is a limit. The balance is the most important, and one of our responsibilities is to protect these guys because sometimes if you play well and you are 17, 16 or 18, people start to talk about you are [Lionel] Messi or you are a big star in the world because you do a few good things. If you don’t manage it well, that can be dangerous for your career.”

The 2028 Olympics are part of the plan

That said, the 2028 Olympics is also a factor in strengthening the program at large. Pochettino is working closely with men’s coach Steve Cherundolo on providing experience for such players on the senior level before the LA Summer Games, which is restricted to players 23 and under, with three overage exceptions.

Stating the Olympic gold medal at home is “an objective for our federation and for the country,” Pochettino said, “It’s a very important thing if we can provide them – the players that maybe Steve believes can be important in the Olympic Games – the minutes and international experience.”

Pochettino used 62 players in his 31 matches and awarded first-time caps to five who ended up making the World Cup squad: Berhalter, Arfsten, Alex Freeman, Matt Freese and Chris Brady.

Pochettino said multiple players who fell short of the World Cup squad also remain in the mix. That could open the door for midfielders Aidan Morris, Tanner Tessmann, Yunus Musah and Diego Luna, as well as midfielder Johnny Cardoso, who dropped out of consideration because of an injury.

Pochettino said he has yet to speak to Balogun about his transfer-deadline drama last week. On the verge of making the jump from France’s Ligue 1 to the Premier League, the Monaco striker reportedly withdrew from the potential deal after Everton raised questions about the results of his physical.

“I will call in the next few days because I wanted to give him a little bit of space,” he said. “I want to know from him what happened.”

Changing the USMNT’s culture

With a full cycle to prepare for the 2030 World Cup, Pochettino will have much more time to mold the program and instill the proper mentality. Hired in the fall of 2024, he hit the ground running and could accomplish only so much before this past summer’s tournament.

“We changed a lot of habits in the last period until the World Cup, but now we need to really change that habit,” he said. “We need to create a group of players that are really being professional and compete in the way we expect.”

Asked about breaking habits, Pochettino said he is “talking about everything. … We need to be aligned all together in our principles and all the concepts that we need to improve, if we want to be competitive in every single moment.”

In the summer of 2025, less than a year into his tenure, he confronted such challenges when multiple players, including Pulisic, requested to be left off the roster for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the region’s biennial championship.

“If I [don’t have a vacation], I cannot arrive fresh for the World Cup,” Pochettino said, repeating Pulisic’s request. “You know now that is bulls***, no? It’s to change this type of idea [and] to build the mind-set with the coaches, with the people in the organization and in the clubs, and of course with the players in the way we will plan.”

After the four friendlies, the U.S. will play in the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinals, away and home in November. Should they advance, the Americans will enter the final four in March at SoFi Stadium in Greater Los Angeles.

Next comes the 2027 CONCACAF Gold Cup and the start of World Cup qualifying.

“It’s a massive job” preparing for the 2030 World Cup, Pochettino said. “It’s a completely different job than when we arrived two years ago. But it’s very exciting. That is one of the points – that we are so excited to be together and be in the project [and] helping the young kids to become more mature, to grow in the right direction.”

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