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Pochettino predicts bright future for USA despite World Cup exit
07th July, 2026 03:40 PM
Head coach Mauricio Pochettino believes the United States has a promising future despite its FIFA World Cup campaign ending with a heavy 4-1 loss to Belgium in the Round of 16 on Tuesday, July 7, 2026.
Speaking after the match in Seattle, the tactician admitted his team fell short of the standards it had displayed in previous games but stressed that the overall tournament should be viewed as a significant step forward for the national side.
Hurting elimination
“It hurts to be eliminated,” Pochettino said after the defeat.
“We didn’t perform well today and that’s the reality. Sometimes, during a tournament, you have one day when things don’t go your way. Unfortunately, that day was today. It’s not the right moment for it to happen, but we didn’t reach the level we had shown before.”
Despite the disappointing exit, the Argentine tactician highlighted the positives from the team’s journey, saying the players had every reason to be proud of what they accomplished.
“At the same time, we should recognize what this team has achieved. We are very proud of our campaign together. We enjoyed the journey and today’s result hurts because we believed we could go further.”
Pochettino, who has been in charge of the United States since September 2024, described the World Cup as an important stage in the team’s growth and development.
“Improvement is never like a rocket going straight up,” he said. “A year ago, if somebody had told us we would be playing Belgium in the World Cup round of 16, everyone would have said we still had a lot of work to do.” Pochettino said.
Building with patience
He added that development takes time and urged patience as the team continues to mature.
“Progress is not linear and it’s not realistic to expect everything to happen quickly. We have shown that we can improve and compete. We have a generation of young players coming through and they just need to stay on this path and keep improving.”
The former Chelsea and Tottenham manager also applauded the professionalism and unity shown by his squad throughout the tournament, choosing not to single out any player for praise or criticism.
“I’m happy with every player who was involved because of the way they behaved, their attitude and their commitment,” he said. “We didn’t have a single issue over 40 or 50 days because everybody understood the ideas and showed respect.”
He concluded by emphasising that the team’s collective effort mattered more than evaluating individual displays.
“This is not the moment to judge individuals. We are happy with the whole group,” he added.
