"Why not?" That's Mauricio Pochettino's answer when asked if the United States can win the 2026 World Cup on home soil. It's the kind of answer that sounds like a deflection until you hear the context behind it — and the very real problems sitting underneath that confidence.
Speaking on The Overlap podcast, the USMNT head coach was candid about the challenges facing his side. Pulisic hasn't scored in 2026. The team has lost friendlies to Belgium and Portugal. And because the U.S. co-hosts the tournament, there have been zero competitive qualifiers to build momentum or edge. "Friendly games is what you play with your friends," Pochettino said. "We are fighting to change that mindset."
That's a genuine issue. Qualification campaigns, for all their grinding tedium, forge something. They create pressure situations, habits under jeopardy, the kind of collective muscle memory you can't replicate in glorified training fixtures. The USMNT arrives at the biggest tournament of their existence without any of that. Anyone considering them for an outright bet — currently long shots at most books — should weigh that context carefully.
The Messi problem and why women are ahead
Pochettino also addressed the question that haunts U.S. Soccer: a country of 342 million people, and still no world-class homegrown number ten. His diagnosis cuts to the emotional roots of the game. "The kids in America don't develop that relationship until they are 11, 12 or 13," he said, comparing it to Argentina where, in his words, the connection starts "before I started to walk."
The structural issue is clear. Youth soccer in the U.S. runs through private schools and pay-to-play systems, competing for attention against basketball and American football. "It's not a factory, the ball teaches you not the coach" — which is a pointed way of saying the current setup is exactly that: a factory.
Ironically, the women's program has already cracked the code Pochettino is trying to solve. He acknowledged it plainly: women are "ahead of men" in American soccer development. The USWNT's track record on the world stage backs that up entirely.
On Spurs: 'Really sad'
Then there was Tottenham. Six years in north London, a Champions League final, a second-place Premier League finish in 2016-17 — and now Pochettino watches his former club sitting in the relegation zone with four games left to survive.
"I really love Tottenham," he said. "It's one of the most important parts of my life as a coach and in my personal life too."
He didn't dodge the harder questions about his own time there, either. "We went 18 months without one signing — that was a record in the Premier League." He revealed they tried and failed to sign both Sadio Mané and Georginio Wijnaldum, moves that could have pushed that squad over the line. "The problem is the assessment was coming from outside the club not inside — people start to intoxicate things."
As for a return to the Premier League one day: "I think my human profile and coach profile match very well with the Premier League and with the culture." He'll be back. The question is whether Spurs will still be in the top flight when he eventually arrives.
