DANA POINT, Calif. — Mauricio Pochettino is sitting in his makeshift workplace on the U.S. World Cup workforce’s resort, the French doorways opened to a patio overlooking the solar stubbornly dipping over the Pacific.
4 lemons sit in a bowl, a follow the 54-year-old Argentine believes absorbs unfavourable power. An unused surfboard leans within the nook, embellished in ocean-themed designs by the resort’s govt sous chef, who can be an artist.
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Down the bluff and within the blue water, surfers are catching the day’s final waves earlier than darkness descends. Even the seagulls appear completely satisfied.
This is not heaven, however it’s simply across the nook from it.
Pochettino’s 20-month teaching challenge can be in a state of bliss. His U.S. squad started the World Cup with two spectacular victories and clinched first place in Group D with one match to spare. The People will play winless Turkiye on Thursday at SoFi Stadium earlier than going through a third-place workforce within the spherical of 32 on July 1 in Santa Clara, California.
Whereas attending to the quarterfinals for the primary time in 24 years can be celebrated, Pochettino has gotten his workforce to consider in additional.
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Behind his desk, the workforce motto is plastered on the wall: Why Not U.S.
In marker, Pochettino has written quotes and aspirational messages on the wall cowl.
“Each single quote represents our journey from Day 1 to at present,” he informed a small gathering of reporters Tuesday night.
They embrace:
“The expertise has introduced us right here, however it’s coronary heart, effort and unity that may make us unforgettable.”
“Coronary heart turns effort into perception and when all the pieces hurts, coronary heart retains us preventing collectively.”
“Now could be our time!” with the date, time and rating of the three-goal victory over within the June 12 opener.
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“Consider, work, compete” is strung collectively in a circle.
“With out one,” Pochettino says, shaking his head, “catastrophe.”
There are extra.
“Thanks for being greater than a workforce – for being a household.”
On a whiteboard, in each English and Spanish, a message reads: “Do not concern the void; it is the place the soul learns to fly.”
A cynic would dismiss them as corny and contrived, however to Pochettino, these quotes epitomize the mindset and angle that his hovering squad has embraced resulting in, and at, the World Cup.
Mauricio Pochettino of the USA waves to followers after the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group D match between the USA and on June 19, 2026 at Seattle Stadium in Seattle, Washington. (Icon Sportswire by way of Getty Photos)
Defying the general public’s — if not the workforce’s — expectations, the People have carried out with a pirate’s swashbuckling and an artist’s grace. They’re taking part in — gasp! — high quality soccer.
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Ideas of a deep run within the match are now not fantasy. Few if anybody is looking them a trophy contender, however after a long time principally within the wilderness, the U.S. is discovering its manner.
It was not a clean course of.
When he was employed, at a program-record $6 million wage, “we misjudged,” he stated. “The state of affairs was worse than we actually believed. We have been so excited, as a result of we have been telling the gamers from Day 1, ‘Oh, it is a World Cup! We begin to play in a single 12 months and a half!'”
Whereas the workers was ready for the World Cup, this system was not.
“We obtain an enormous punch. … We are saying, ‘What the f***?’ As a result of we have been so excited,” he stated.
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The sluggish course of of making a contemporary tradition, figuring out the suitable gamers and formulating a technique took time.
“Once you put the primary seed within the soil, you do not see nothing,” he stated, “and you then begin to develop the tree.”
Earlier than the state of affairs might enhance, it wanted to hit backside. That occurred in March 2025 on the CONCACAF Nations League’s closing 4 exterior Los Angeles, the place the U.S. completed fourth out of the 4 certified groups.
“We anticipated it,” Pochettino stated. “It was extra of a plan. It was painful, however it was vital. … It was an excellent crash.”
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He then stripped the workforce down and began constructing it again up, starting with a younger squad on the CONCACAF Gold Cup that summer time. From there, issues started to take maintain. The U.S. went unbeaten within the final 5 matches of 2025, all in opposition to World Cup-bound groups.
“We problem individuals, we problem the group, we problem gamers, we problem everybody,” he stated. “That was the method. Now, it isn’t a coincidence of what’s going on” on the World Cup.
Winger Tim Weah stated Pochettino launched “South American grit.”
“Once you have a look at groups like and Paraguay, once you have a look at , the Colombias, they all the time have that edge due to their mentality, and so they’re simply nonstop,” stated. “It is one thing I do not suppose we had earlier than.”
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Having modified the workforce’s mentality, Pochettino started engaged on the group’s perception in itself and what was doable.
In November, referencing in 2002 and in 2022 making the World Cup semifinals in opposition to all odds, Pochettino requested the gamers, “Why not us?”
“It unified everybody,” Pochettino stated Tuesday.
4 months later, following back-to-back smackdowns by and , the U.S. regarded something like a workforce ready for World Cup success. Pochettino, although, wasn’t troubled by the outcomes. “We begin to see the progress,” he stated.
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The glowing efficiency within the World Cup opener got here on the similar venue (SoFi Stadium) because the dreary Nations League effort in March 2025. The undercard to the Mexico-Canada semifinal, the U.S. match in opposition to (which the People misplaced 1-0) was witnessed by just some thousand. It was a equally miserable turnout for the third-place sport in opposition to Canada (a 2-1 loss).
“I did not acknowledge [the stadium for the World Cup opener] as a result of it was empty” the final time he was there, Pochettino stated.
Big crowds supporting visiting groups was an eye-opener for Pochettino, a former Argentine World Cup defender accustomed to full assist when the nationwide workforce performed at residence.
A professional-Mexican crowd for the 2025 Gold Cup closing in opposition to the U.S. in Houston left him “crying within the dressing room as a result of I really feel so unhappy,” he stated. “We play in our personal nation and 70,000 Mexican [fans] are singing.”
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He was heartened by the keenness of U.S. followers on the closing World Cup tuneups in opposition to in Charlotte and in Chicago, adopted by the raucous assist for the Group D matches in larger Los Angeles and Seattle.
“Totally different vibe, totally different power, so engaged with us,” he stated. “That was superb.”
Though Pochettino doesn’t stay within the U.S. — he has properties in London and — he has acquired a larger appreciation for the nation.
Final fall, he attended the Ohio State-Texas soccer sport and, after witnessing the deep ardour of the fan bases, he questioned, “Why not with us, with soccer?”
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He loves nation music, specifically Lainey Wilson, whom he found by watching the TV sequence “Yellowstone.” He noticed Teddy Swims in live performance in New York final winter.
He enjoys John Denver’s “Nation Roads” — the workforce’s victory music that has gamers and followers alike singing in unison.
“Tough to comply with the lyrics,” he stated. “I’m studying.”
As for Pochettino’s future, his U.S. contract expires after the World Cup. He’s positive to obtain affords from golf equipment in Europe, the place he made his teaching identify with , and , amongst others.
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He stated he hasn’t dominated out staying with the U.S. program.
“We informed the federation we’re open,” he stated, “however we do not need to distract when all of the power must be with my gamers.”
If he have been to remain, he stated he’d like to assist strengthen the game’s basis.
“If the American individuals begin to present ardour in our sport too, why not be right here being a part of one thing that may create a legacy?” he stated. “For me, an important legacy is the connection between the nationwide workforce and the followers. For me, the legacy is to not win the World Cup. After all, we need to win, however that [connection] is the legacy we’d like if at some point we need to be very profitable and be constant. Why not be a part of that?”